The Detroit Pistons opened the 2026-27 season against the Boston Celtics at 3 p.m. Tuesday on NBC, the first game on the NBA calendar. With the early tip-off, head coach J.B. Bickerstaff was pleased with the way the Pistons crowd filled Little Caesars Arena. He told Omari Sankofa II of the Detroit Free Press, “I thought it was awesome. When you get to opening tip you don’t know what to expect. When we got out there it was full, it was crowded and you felt the energy in the second half.”
Detroit trailed by as many as 22 points in the third quarter, falling behind 72-50 after Paul George hit three straight 3-pointers for Boston. George finished with 38 points, the most ever by a Celtic in his first game with the team. The Pistons answered with a 23-0 run in the fourth quarter and won 121-113 to start the season 1-0.
Detroit Pistons Had Five Players Score in Double Digits
Five Pistons scored in double figures. Cade Cunningham and Jalen Duren each had 22 points, Duncan Robinson had 21, Javonte Green had 19 and Ausar Thompson had 11. Cunningham added eight assists, Duren pulled down nine rebounds and Thompson finished with 11 boards of his own. All 19 of Green’s points came after halftime.
The Pistons Crowd Was a Factor in the Comeback
Bickerstaff’s point was about the building, not the box score. A 3 p.m. tip on a Tuesday is an unusual start time, and the arena filled up anyway. Detroit looked out of it in the third quarter, down 22 points, but the Pistons didn’t give up and the crowd stayed with them. The team and the crowd both proved something in the first game of the season.