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Pistons
Erase
22-Point
Deficit
to Stun
Celtics
in
Season
Opener
Willis
Jones -
Sports
Tell Us
Detroit
News
Bureau
DETROIT
- Look,
opening
night in
the NBA
usually
gives us
a lot of
fake
noise,
but what
went
down at
Little
Caesars
Arena
was a
genuine
shock to
the
system.
The
Detroit
Pistons
dug
themselves
a deep
22-point
hole
against
the
Boston
Celtics,
only to
flip the
switch
and pull
off a
wild
121-113
comeback
victory.
For the
first
two and
a half
quarters,
this
looked
like a
standard
blueprint
game for
Boston.
Paul
George
was as
advertised
in his
Celtics
debut,
put-together
and
lethal,
dropping
38
points
with
seven
triples
and five
steals.
Payton
Pritchard
provided
his
usual
high-energy
boost
with 17
off the
wire,
and
Boston
was
coasting.
Then
Detroit
flipped
the
script.
Instead
of
folding
like
young
teams
usually
do when
down big
to a
contender,
the
Pistons
ramped
up their
full-court
pressure
and
locked
down the
perimeter.
That
fueled
an
explosive
18-0 run
to make
it a
ballgame
again.
The real
clinic
came in
the
fourth
quarter,
where
Detroit
simply
out-executed,
out-worked,
and
outscored
Boston
28 to 3
down the
stretch.
Erasing
a
22-point
deficit
on night
one is
the
largest
opening-night
comeback
this
league
has seen
since
the late
nineties.
Statistically,
Detroit
won this
in the
trenches
and at
the
line.
Jalen
Duren
set the
tone
inside
with 22
points
and 9
boards,
while
Cade
Cunningham
played
composed,
veteran
basketball
with 22
points
and 8
dimes.
Duncan
Robinson
provided
the
secondary
firepower,
pouring
in 15 of
his 21
points
during
that
fourth-quarter
explosion.
The
wildcard
was
Javonte
Green,
who sat
out the
entire
first
half,
came in
fresh,
and
knocked
down
five
huge
threes
to
finish
with 19
points
in under
20
minutes.
Detroit
owned
the
glass 49
to 39,
controlled
the
paint 44
to 34,
and shot
a crisp
87.5
percent
from the
stripe.
Head
coach
J.B.
Bickerstaff
summed
it up
best
afterward,
noting
that
when
this
roster
plays
disciplined,
physical
basketball,
they can
compete
with
anyone
regardless
of the
uniform
on the
other
side.
Detroit
takes
this
momentum
on the
road
starting
Friday
in
Miami,
while
Boston
heads
back to
TD
Garden
with
plenty
of film
to
review.
This
Tell Us
USA News
Network
report
is
produced
in part
by Ai
and can
make
mistakes.
Please
contact
and let
us know
of any
errors
you may
find.
info@tellususa.com
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