How Pistons' 22-point comeback vs. Celtics made NBA history originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
The 2025-26 NBA season ended with a pair of comebacks from the Knicks, including a historic 29-point turnaround in Game 4 of the NBA Finals.
The Pistons didn't quite need to do that to win their season-opener against the Celtics, but they did make some history of their own.
Detroit rallied from a 22-point deficit at home to pull off a 121-113 win, at one point unleashing a dominant 23-0 run to turn a game the Celtics once controlled into a comfortable Pistons win.
Here's a look at why the Pistons' comeback is unprecedented.
Pistons make NBA history with 22-point comeback
The Pistons pulled off the largest comeback on the first day of an NBA season since 1997-98, when detailed in-game records were first kept.
Not only did the Pistons manage to rally from a 22-point deficit on the opening day of the season, but they did so in the very first game of the season for any team and were facing a team with championship hopes.
The Pistons’ 22-point comeback is the largest comeback on the first day of an NBA season in the play-by-play era (since 1997-98). https://t.co/qICSxEp998
— NBA Communications (@NBAPR) October 20, 2026
The Pistons trailed 72-50 at one point in the third quarter, getting bludgeoned by Paul George's hot shooting in his Celtics debut. While George finished with 38 points on 12-of-21 shooting, Jayson Tatum shot just 6-of-23 in a nightmarish performance. Duncan Robinson, meanwhile, supported Cade Cunningham and Jalen Duren with 21 points on five 3-pointers.
J.B. Bickerstaff undoubtedly will want some better starts from his team, but the win put the Pistons on the board with a win ahead of a matchup with Giannis Antetokounmpo and the new-look Heat on Friday.