DETROIT - Jayson Tatum didn’t bite when asked what felt different on opening night, and his answer told you plenty about how Boston wants this season to look.
“That’s a pretty broad question,” Tatum said. “Everybody’s probably expected to do a little bit more in bigger roles. Our depth, a lot of guys are gonna play on a given night, so everybody has to be ready.”
That was the idea Tuesday, even if the final result in Detroit ended badly for the Celtics. Boston built its plan around depth, ball movement, fewer turnovers and work on the offensive glass.
For stretches, it looked like a workable blueprint. But the Pistons flipped the game with rebounding, free throws and transition opportunities, turning a 22-point deficit into a 21-point second-half win.
The night also gave a clear snapshot of the new Celtics reality. Paul George poured in 38 points, a performance that backed up his preseason stance that better health could bring back more of what he once was.
Tatum spent much of the night operating in different spots, moving without the ball and trying to help the offense breathe. Joe Mazzulla liked the unselfishness.
But by the end, Tatum had drifted out of the center of the action.
In the fourth quarter, he scored two of Boston’s 25 points and produced just one assist. Through the preseason and opening night, he has drawn only three free throw attempts, a number that puts even more pressure on his jumper. He acknowledged the need to be more forceful when the game tightens.
“That’s just how we play,” Tatum said. “Playing fast and just trying to be unpredictable, it’s what got us the lead and things like that. Just gotta be a little more assertive in those moments, just to be in the mix, not necessarily scoring.”
Mazzulla said after the game that Tatum’s role isn’t limited to points, but he also made it clear that he wants his star forward to keep letting it fly. Even if Tatum is 0-for-10, the coach wants the open shots taken.
Early on, the approach worked. George fit neatly beside Tatum in the spaces Boston created, and the offense had some flow through the third quarter.
Payton Pritchard was asked to shoulder more shot creation this season and scored on his first three touches nearly 10 minutes into the first quarter. Derrick White was efficient as well and finished with eight assists in the loss.
But the Celtics also opened with Jordan Walsh and Mitchell Robinson, and neither gave them much offensive help. George was managed through his minutes, and Detroit’s surge began almost as soon as he went to the bench. Robinson left in the second quarter with an ankle injury, and Boston never got much from him or the other centers even when it tried to feed them.
Sam Hauser again surfaced as one of Boston’s best offensive options behind Tatum and George, but once the Celtics leaned harder into jump shots and Tatum stayed away from the paint late, the offense bogged down. The Pistons made the game uncomfortable by loading up on Tatum at times and trusting Ausar Thompson in one-on-one situations against Boston’s star.
Mazzulla still saw good looks throughout the night.
“Give Detroit credit, they’re a great defensive team in general,” Mazzulla said. “Second thing, I don’t know that they necessarily limited him.
I thought he got some really good looks. He got the ball where he wanted it, catch-and-shoot above the break, two feet in the paint, missed four or five layups, so they’re a great defensive team, their defense got them back in the game.
Him in particular, I thought he got a lot of the looks that he wanted and found the space and the decisions he wanted, we just didn’t execute on those. But yeah, just continuing to use him in different roles, off-ball, pick-and-roll, isolation.
He has the ability to play in different ways.”
There were bright spots before halftime. Boston did a strong job attacking Detroit’s non-shooters, especially Thompson, and Pritchard was all over his touches, getting to the line eight times.
Baylor Scheierman closed the third quarter with a buzzer-beating three and later came up with a pick-six early in the fourth. The night also featured a brief Neemias Queta stint and a starting role for Walsh, another sign that Boston is still sorting through its rotation.
Mazzulla expects to keep using different starting groups and mixing rotations through games to create offense. That flexibility should help on nights when George is out or when Pritchard and White don’t have their usual touch. But with Jaylen Brown making his 76ers debut at Madison Square Garden shortly after Boston’s collapse, opening night and Brown’s first game elsewhere served as a reminder of how much responsibility still sits on Tatum.
“He had 11 assists,” Mazzulla said. “I just want him to continue to make the right play.”
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