NBA Opener: Pistons' 23-0 Fourth-Quarter Run Rallies Detroit Past the Celtics 121-113 as Robinson Scores 15 in the Fourth and Paul George Nets 38 in His Boston Debut
Detroit — Duncan Robinson scored 15 of his 21 points in the fourth quarter as Detroit reeled off 23 unanswered points and downed the visiting Boston Celtics, 121-113, in the NBA's regular season opener on Tuesday, Reuters (Field Level Media) reported.
Jalen Duren and Cade Cunningham scored 22 points apiece for the Pistons, who had an Eastern Conference-best 60 wins last season. Javonte Green came off the bench to score 19 points in 18 minutes and Ausar Thompson supplied 11 points, 11 rebounds and five assists. Paul George, making his Celtics debut, had a game-high 38 points — the most ever by a player in a Celtics debut, according to NBC Sports Boston. Payton Pritchard and Derrick White scored 17 points apiece, but Jayson Tatum was held to 13 points on 6-for-23 shooting and contributed 11 assists. "We just didn't do our brand of basketball good enough in the first half and we had to turn it up," Cunningham said. "We had a good talk at halftime and lit that fire a little bit better."
The Celtics led by 13 at halftime. Detroit held a 39-35 advantage early in the second quarter before Boston erupted for 15 unanswered points, and George scored the Celtics' last eight points of the half as Boston carried a 58-45 advantage into the second half. George fired in a trio of 3-pointers in a 52-second span in the third quarter to give Boston its biggest lead at 72-50. Green entered the game shortly afterward to slow down George and gave Detroit a spark on offense, scoring 11 points in the quarter, including three 3-pointers of his own, as the Pistons pulled within three points by the closing seconds of the quarter.
George opened the fourth quarter with a layup to give Boston a 90-82 lead, and the Celtics soon nudged the lead to 12, but Detroit began another comeback, started by a Thompson three-point play. Robinson scored 11 straight points to pull the Pistons within one at 99-98. He then set up a 3-pointer for Green before Duren converted a three-point play. Robinson fired in a 3-pointer with 5:13 left to make it 107-99, and Green capped the 23-point run with another 3-pointer for a 112-99 lead with 3:33 to go. Boston rallied to pull within four, but Green hit two free throws with 6.7 seconds left to clinch Detroit's win. (GSM, based on Reuters reporting)
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 凯德·坎宁安（资料图），Erik Drost 摄，CC BY 2.0（Wikimedia Commons）
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