Jayson Tatum & Paul George-led Celtics get roasted after blowing 22-point lead in loss to Pistons originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
A huge belief among Boston Celtics fans was that a huge change was going to come, one way or another. Coach Joe Mazzulla led this team to a perfect 4-0 NBA preseason record, which sparked a lot of optimism. Then came opening night against the Detroit Pistons. Everything started out well, but Paul George and Jayson Tatum couldn't handle Cade Cunningham and Co.'s production. The result? A blown 22-point lead, a 121-113 loss, and a whole lot of declarations about the Celtics on social media.
Celtics led by Tatum and George get roasted amid blowing 22-point lead to Pistons
The Celtics steamrolled the Pistons to start their NBA season. They led 28-27 by the end of the first quarter. By the end of the second quarter, that lead had ballooned to about 22 points.But, as they say, 'it's not over until the fat lady sings.' Cade Cunningham helped his team score 76 points in just the second half alone.
The Celtics? Well, the squad led by Jayson Tatum and Paul George could only muster up 55 points. When the buzzer rang, the Celtics started off their regular season campaign with an L on the win-loss column.
NBA and Celtics fans were not having it. They immediately took to social media and expressed a whole lot of emotions.
"Same stuff. Different year. "Let's build a 20-some-point lead and see if the opponent can actually catch us. We'll do absolutely nothing to assist their comeback." NOTHING has changed. At all," a Celtics fan declared.
Another avid NBA spectator had Tatum and Coach Joe Mazzulla to blame, "This was a bad Tatum performance. He’ll be better. Who won’t be better is Mazzulla. He is such a bad in-game coach. He doesn’t know how to stop runs. Get away from live by/die by 3’s. Make defensive changes. Gonna be a long season with Mazz."
True enough, it was not really the best performance from the Celtics superstar. In a team-high 38 minutes, he scored only 13 points on 6-of-23 shooting. It didn't help that Tatum went 0% from the three-point line on seven attempts. He tried to affect the game in other ways, but his 11 assists and four rebounds weren't enough to keep them afloat against the Pistons.
Celtics fans did warm up to one bright spot during this loss. Paul George went ballistic. He scored 38 points on 57.1% from the field while shooting 58.3% from three-point range. This was the most points scored in a Celtics debut. He also dropped three assists to help their offense.
Paul George in his Celtics debut 🤯: 38 PTS (!!) 5 REB 3 AST 5 STL (!!) 78% TS Still got alot left in the tank https://t.co/Rn85dY3xIE
— Polymarket Hoops (@PolymarketHoops) October 20, 2026
Defensively, George also shined. He helped the Celtics by grabbing five rebounds while also snagging five steals. Some NBA fans even think this could be an MVP-level campaign in the making if sustained.
"If you have a real job or are a real person and couldn’t watch a 3:00 PM NBA game on a Tuesday don’t worry ….. You only missed Paul George announcing his MVP candidacy, first halves not mattering, and Ausar Thompson getting a new nickname," they wrote.
While a lot of huge statements dropped during this Celtics loss to the Pistons, some cool heads kept their optimism from getting lost amid all the negative emotions.
"I don’t think people understand that it’s a long season and it takes teams a bit to find their collective personality. That can’t happen in the pre-season. We saw what they want, but the path there goes through playing games. Celtics are fine," the fan posted.
Overreactions are normal during the start of the NBA regular season. Whether the Celtics dispel these narratives will depend on Coach Mazzulla, George, and Tatum.