"It Was Definitely Not My Best Game"…Detroit Erases 22-Point Deficit with 23-0 Run to Win

The game was played on October 20 at 3 p.m. ET (4 a.m. KST on the 21st) at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit. With 8 minutes 35 seconds left in the third quarter, the scoreboard read 50-72. The home team trailed by 22. The final score was 121-113, and the winner was Detroit.ESPN box score shows Detroit outscored Boston 76-55 in the second half alone, adding 21 more points.

Detroit 23-0 run, from 89-99 to 112-99

Field Level Media reports that Detroit, trailing 89-99 in the fourth quarter, went on to score 23 straight points. With 5 minutes 13 seconds left, Duncan Robinson's 3-pointer made it 107-99. The run ended with Jabonte Green's 3-pointer with 3 minutes 33 seconds left, making it 112-99. A team that had trailed by 10 points became one leading by 13.

Quarter	Boston	Detroit	Margin (Detroit perspective)
1st quarter	28	27	-1
2nd quarter	30	18	-12
3rd quarter	30	37	+7
4th quarter	25	39	+14
Total	113	121	+8

Boston cut the deficit to 4 points late. But with 6.7 seconds left, Green made two free throws, which decided the game. Detroit Free Press cited the NBA Communications tally. This 22-point comeback wasthe largest opening-day comeback of the play-by-play era, a rematch between last season's East No. 1 (60-22) and No. 2 (56-26) seeds.

Detroit: Robinson 21 points, Green 19 points, 39 points in the 4th quarter

Player	Points	Key stats
Cade Cunningham	22	8 assists
Jalen Duren	22	9 rebounds, FG 8/13
Duncan Robinson	21	3-pointers 5/9
Jabonte Green	19	Bench, 18 minutes, 3-pointers 5/8
Ausar Thompson	11	11 rebounds, 5 assists

Cunningham and Duren each scored 22 points. Green played only 18 minutes and scored 19 points, and all five of his 3-pointers came in the second half. Robinson's fourth-quarter scoring differs by outlet: Field Level Media and the Free Press counted 15 points, while NBC Sports Boston counted 14. Thompson added 11 points, 11 rebounds, and 5 assists.

Numerically, the difference came at the free-throw line. Detroit made 28 of 32 free throws, and Boston made 16 of 21. Subtracting 16 from 28 gives12 points from free throws alone, which is more than the 8-point final margin. Boston made 17 three-pointers, 2 more (6 points) than Detroit. However, Detroit won the rebounding battle 49-39, a 10-rebound advantage.

Paul George scores 38 points, sets Celtics debut scoring record

NBC Sports Boston tally shows Paul George scored 38 points on 12-of-21 shooting from the field and 7-of-12 from three. He added 5 rebounds, 3 assists, and 5 steals. That is 8 more than the 30 points Kristaps Porzingis set in 2023, the Celtics' debut scoring record. George moved from Philadelphia to Boston in a trade for Jaylen Brown last July.

Tatum had 13 points and 11 assists, and missed all seven of his 3-pointers. According to NBC Sports Boston, Tatum said, "It was definitely not my best game." George made 12 of 21 (57%) shots, and Tatum made 6 of 23 (26%). The next game is reportedly on Friday, October 23. Detroit plays at Miami, and Boston hosts the New York Knicks in its home opener.

Related official sites

• NBA official game page – BOS vs DET (2026-10-20) — Official game information for the season opener
• NBA official box score – BOS vs DET — Official box score for the season opener
• Detroit Pistons official homepage (NBA.com) — Detroit team official page
• Cade Cunningham NBA.com official player page — Cunningham's official player information

Representative image · stock photo · not a photo from the current game in the article · Photo: Wikimedia Commons (Adam Bishop), CC BY-SA 4.0

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