DETROIT — Jalen Duren looked like a heavyweight boxer who had just gone three rounds 45 minutes before the Detroit Pistons faced the Boston Celtics for the NBA’s 2026-27 season opener on Tuesday afternoon. Duren, wearing white cutoffs and black Pistons sweatpants, was already dripping with perspiration as he put in extra work on his driving and pull-up mid-range shooting with an assistant coach prior to tip-off. The rare 3 p.m. local start time didn’t take away any of the intensity from a meeting between two of the best teams in the Eastern Conference, and it was clear even before jump ball that neither side would be easing into the new season.

It felt like the Celtics landed a knockout punch midway through the third quarter when Paul George ripped the nets for another three-pointer to put Boston up 22 points. The Pistons appeared to have the same structural problems that tanked a 60-win team in the playoffs last season: not enough shooting or creation next to star Cade Cunningham, and too many lineups that lacked two-way balance. That’s when Detroit subbed Javonte Green into the game for the first time, and immediately flipped the switch.

The Pistons beat the Celtics, 121-113, for the biggest opening night comeback in league history. Detroit was fueled by a 23-0 fourth quarter run where its defense held the Celtics scoreless for five minutes in crunch time.

“I think the comeback just embodied the culture and what we’re trying to build here,” Duren said after the win. “We’re a team that’s known to be gritty, known to get it out the mud, known to never quit.”

Duren needed to get off to a good start after missing the first week of training camp with a lingering contract dispute that caused hurt feelings on both sides. That storyline can be put to rest now after he finished with 22 points and nine rebounds on 8-of-13 shooting, an excellent performance that almost felt quiet in real time because of how he accumulated his numbers. Everything was in the flow of the offense on lobs, putbacks, and dunker’s spot finishes, and his best work might not have even showed up in the box score.

The Celtics optimize every aspect of the game under Joe Mazzulla, with shot location and generating extra possessions being paramount to their success. Boston crashes the offensive glass as hard as any team in the league, and it added perhaps the single greatest offensive rebounder alive this side of Houston’s Steven Adams by inking Mitchell Robinson to a three-year deal over the summer. Well, Robinson was mostly invisible in this game, with Duren and his teammates boxing out hard on every possession. Yes, Robinson did turn an ankle in the first half before returning, but that’s both part of the game and a major part of the deal with Robinson in particular. The Pistons out-rebounded the Celtics with a 49-39 edge on the glass.

“It’s not only their bigs, but their smaller players, too. They’re known to crash from the corners. My mindset tonight was whether I get the rebound or not, I just got to keep them off the glass,” Duren told me after the game.

This will be remembered as the Javonte Green game for good reason. Green didn’t play in the first half, but head coach JB Bickerstaff knew he needed a spark in the third quarter as the Celtics were turning it into a rout. Part of Boston’s game-plan is ignoring non-shooters on the perimeter, but they didn’t get the memo that Green has turned himself into a viable outside threat in recent years. Green knocked down 5-of-8 threes, most of them wide open, to give Detroit new life. His defense was just as important by getting into the gaps and helping make Jayson Tatum settle for tough jumpers that he was consistently bricking. Tatum finished 6-of-23 from the floor.

Green ended the night +21 in 18 minutes. The Pistons looked far more formidable in his minutes than they did with John Collins or Ron Holland on the floor, and it makes sense. Green doesn’t hesitate to shoot from three on offense, he has active hands and tons of bounce on the defensive end, and he consistently plays a team game by moving the ball to the open man. He’s everything you want out of a role player, and he’s one of the few Detroit reserves who actually offers a two-way game when his shot is falling like it did Tuesday.

Duncan Robinson was also excellent. He knocked down 5-of-9 threes by sprinting around screens and firing with just a sliver of space. When he didn’t have a clean look, Robinson would hit the brakes, go into his shot, and get fouled by Celtics defenders who were rushing to close out on him. With Robinson, Isaiah Joe, and Kevin Huerter, the Pistons actually have some options to improve their spacing around Cunningham this season, though building lineups that can actually compete defensively with viable three-point shooting will continue to be Bickerstaff’s biggest challenge.

The Pistons won 14 games three seasons ago. They made a massive jump to 44 wins two years ago, and another big leap to 60 wins and the No. 1 seed in the East last season. Detroit doesn’t really have much room to improve in the regular season, but there’s still tons of upside left in their playoff approach. The Pistons would have been the victims of a 1-8 first-round upset if Franz Wagner didn’t get hurt for the Magic. Duren was out-played by an inferior player in Wendell Carter Jr. in the series, and he didn’t look much better in round two as Detroit was eliminated by an uninspiring Cavs team.

“We’ve seen the bottom, so we’re not afraid of it,” Duren said of his team’s slow start through the first three quarters. “I’d never say we were scared or worried. We knew we had to pick it up, and we did.”

It’s not obvious where the Pistons’ next step is coming from yet, but that’s okay. It’s a long season, and Detroit will discover plenty of things along the way, just like they did on opening night with Green’s unexpected explosion. The East is better than ever, but the Pistons aren’t going to be scared of anyone. The Knicks’ opening night loss to the Philadelphia 76ers in the very next game only reinforced the idea that the conference is wide open. New York deserves to be the favorite as the defending champs, but there’s about seven other East teams that can realistically dream of making an NBA Finals run, and Detroit is one of them.

The early tip-off time didn’t feel like a nuisance in and around the arena. Before the game, fans decked out in Celtics and Pistons gear embraced each other outside to welcome back NBA basketball. It was nice to see a mutual respect from both sides at the start of a long season. When the top-8 of the East is as bunched up as it appears to be entering the new year, every game matters, and for one afternoon the Pistons got the better of the Celtics.

While it’s just one night, this game did give both teams plenty to chew on. The Celtics were “guarding” Ausar Thompson with a big man who roamed off him 15-feet away from the perimeter, daring him to shoot. Thompson still found a way to make an offensive impact even with arguably the league’s ugliest jump shot by cutting to the rim, spraying out quick passes for three-point attempts, and getting out in the open floor. His 360 scoop layup in the first half was a thing of beauty. He finished the game +12 in his 33 minutes, and harassed Tatum with his all-world perimeter defense. Other teams will have to wonder if playing off him to that degree is really worth it.

George looked unreal in his Celtics debut after coming over in the controversial Jaylen Brown trade. He finished with 38 points, five rebounds, and five steals on 7-of-12 shooting from three. He’s going to be a natural fit in the Celtics’ system if he can stay healthy. Tatum looked great in the first half and terrible in the second. I thought Boston needed more Payton Pritchard to loosen things up offensively. Why is Joe Mazzulla bringing him off the bench? Hugo Gonzalez, the king of Time Decay RAPM, was dreadful in his 10 minutes, finishing -15. I thought Baylor Scheierman looked great, and the Neemias Queta minutes were more promising than Robinson’s.

An 82-game regular season is just too damn long, but there’s nothing like NBA games that actually feel meaningful. Duren called it a playoff atmosphere after the game, and it really did seem like it. I was exhausted just watching his pre-game workout before he went out and dunked everything at the basket while winning the battle on the boards that truly dictates wins and losses. Overreact to this game if you want to. I’m not going to judge you. For one sunny fall afternoon in the Midwest, it just felt so nice to be back in the gym.