Detroit – The Pistons were down 22 and it was looking bleak. Cade Cunningham wasn’t getting to the basket easily and the Celtics were doing what they do, hitting 3s from every corner. Detroit’s big opening-day showcase needed a boost.
It started where it always starts, with smothering defense. It continued where it often continues, with a varied array of contributors. By the time the Pistons had finished off a 23-0 run on a 3-pointer by Javonte Green in the fourth quarter, it looked and sounded like a wild playoff game. It also looked and sounded like a lot of games will in the suddenly stacked Eastern Conference this season.
The Pistons flipped that deficit into a stirring triumph at Little Caesars Arena Tuesday, ripping past the Celtics 121-113 in front of a crowd that roared like it was May. No messages are sent or received in the first game, with lots of new-look teams figuring things out. But in this one, the Pistons eventually flexed their old-look strengths.
More: Green, Robinson lead Pistons to season-opening win over Celtics
“Yeah, that's what makes us a team,” said Jalen Duren, in his first regular-season game since a protracted offseason contract negotiation. “I think the comeback just embodied the culture and what we're trying to build here. We're a team known to be gritty, known to get into the mud, known to never quit, and that's our identity. Even the guys who are new here are embodying that.”
For all the focus on Cunningham, rightly so, J.B. Bickerstaff is always hunting for the next guy up. Duren was paid handsomely to stay, and looked happily at home again, with 22 points and nine rebounds.
But on a day when the NBA celebrated its one-name stars and power teams, the Pistons again stood out for their unique build. The league’s season-opening, three-game national-TV extravaganza featured the Sixers-Knicks and Spurs-Thunder at night. The Celtics came in as one of the favorites — along with the Knicks and Sixers — to supplant the Pistons as the top seed in the Eastern Conference.
The Pistons had the honors of tipping it off with the matinee, and they had a few of their own one-name pieces. Boston brought in Paul George, trying to recapture his stardom, and a fully healthy star Jayson Tatum, who had the misfortune of running into the Pistons defensive menace. Tatum was held to 13 points on 6-for-23 shooting (0-for-7 on 3s).
How did that happen?
“Ausar Thompson,” Bickerstaff said. “That simple. You get him in one-on-one situations, you're gonna be in for a long night, no matter who you are.”
Just for fun, Thompson, one of the league’s elite defenders, added 11 points, 11 rebounds and dropped in a short jumper as the shot clock expired to seal it with 41 seconds left. The Pistons’ 22-point comeback was the largest in an NBA opener in at least 28 years.
More: How Cade Cunningham will benefit from Pistons improved floor spacing
Of course we’ve seen it before, often multiple times in the same games. All those crazy comebacks – and meltdowns, too – in the playoffs against the Magic and Cavs need to be smoothed out if the Pistons are to grab another high seed in the playoffs. It will be much, much tougher in the East, with LeBron James and Jaylen Brown joining the Sixers and Joel Embiid. You also have the newly crowned Knicks and others – Cleveland, Toronto, Miami and even Indiana – duly fortified.
The Pistons do need to evolve, which is why Trajan Langdon brought in shooters John Collins, Isaiah Joe and Taurean Prince, and hopes Thompson can develop a more-dynamic offensive game. And then in the opener, they found shooting help on their own roster.
Duncan Robinson (21 points, 5-for-9 on 3s) and Green (19 points, 5-for-8 on 3s) provided the spark in the second half, when the Pistons outscored the Celtics 76-55. It was dazzling at times, as each hit clutch 3 after clutch 3, turning a noisy arena atmosphere into pandemonium.
“We got a high level of trust in everybody on our roster,” Bickerstaff said. “Tonight, I thought we needed just a little bit of a boost, and Woo, time and time again, does it for us. He could have sat over there and been pissed off because he didn't play in the first half, but that's not the makeup of this group. I thought Duncan and Woo did a great job of catching that spark for us.”
Wait a minute. Woo?
Woo Who?
“Nobody knows where the nickname came from,” Green said, smiling. “I'm sorry, but we've been asking the same question for six years now. Nobody knows. My mom doesn't know. My grandma doesn't know. Wish I had an answer for you.”
Green certainly had an answer for Bickerstaff, who saw his team getting blistered by the Celtics’ deep shooting. The Pistons won’t ever be as 3-heavy as Boston, but they are trying to space the floor to help Cunningham create better shots.
By the end of this one, the Pistons (15-for-40 on 3s) and Celtics (17-for-42) had nearly identical shooting stats. Who knew it would start with a guy that didn’t play a second in the first half. But Woo knew what was needed.
“I guess we were lacking energy,” said Green, who averaged 6.9 points while playing in all 82 games for the Pistons last season. “We weren't playing as hard as we know we can play on the defensive end. We play our way, everything else will fall in place. In the first half, and probably the beginning of the third quarter, we weren't playing Detroit basketball.”
Detroit basketball is back, with a largely unchanged foundation and a significantly bigger challenge. Winning 60 games again seems improbable. Can the Pistons’ shooting catch up, or keep up, with the East’s glitterati?
For a Tuesday matinee, it was an entertaining show against one of those marquee opponents. Cunningham had said he felt the Pistons were being “slept on,” overlooked in preseason prognostications. The team alternately claims it doesn’t care, then relishes the edge it brings.
“The opponent doesn't matter,” Bickerstaff. “What people say doesn't matter. The only thing that matters is if we play Pistons basketball. And when we play Pistons basketball, we're hard to beat.”
And when they shoot like this? Woo-wee, they’re really hard to beat.
@bobwojnowski
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Wojo: Pistons go bonkers in 23-0 run, shoot past Celtics in opener