The Detroit Pistons and Boston Celtics open the season with the same problem hanging over both teams: who steps up as the No. 2 option behind the star?
That question looks a little different in each locker room, but it’s the thread connecting tonight’s matchup. Detroit and Boston were built in opposite ways last season.
The Celtics lived beyond the arc, firing away from 3-point range. The Pistons leaned the other direction, getting most of their offense in the paint.
Detroit has tried to close that gap by adding more shooting this offseason.
Even so, the biggest concern for both teams is still the same: each has a franchise engine, but there’s a clear question mark behind him.
At the moment, Boston appears closer to solving it.
The Celtics are searching for growth and good health around Jayson Tatum. Even after trading Jaylen Brown over the summer, they still have more proven candidates to absorb that second scoring load.
Payton Pritchard is one of the main names to watch. Boston is betting on a bigger role for him after paying him accordingly, and he enters the season off an efficient 17 points and five assists per game last year.
There’s also Paul George, who Boston is counting on to be healthier this season. If he’s available, he gives the Celtics another obvious scoring option beside Tatum.
Derrick White rounds out the group as a steady source of offense, good for about 15-16 points per game. That means Boston may have lost its second-best player, but it still has several established answers.
Detroit’s case is more intriguing, but also more uncertain. Jalen Duren and Ausar Thompson both offer upside, yet both still have plenty to prove. The questions are simple enough: can Duren push closer to 25 points per game, and can Thompson create more offense, knock down a few jumpers and bring Detroit closer to 15 points from him?
That’s where the Pistons sit entering the season - with younger, less finished pieces than Boston’s.
The upside, of course, is that Detroit’s supporting cast is younger than the Celtics’. Boston may have the edge right now, but that doesn’t mean it will stay that way.
For tonight, Cade Cunningham and Jayson Tatum are the stars expected to balance each other out. That puts the spotlight squarely on the secondary players, where the outcome may hinge on whether Boston’s veterans or Detroit’s developing talents deliver the bigger night.
In Other News...
Pistons Opener Hinted At A Change Fans Have Wanted For Years
The Pistons entered the 2026 offseason determined to modernize an offense that too often settled for too few threes, and their regular-season opener against the Celtics offered the clearest sign yet that the message may have landed. Detroit launched 40 three-pointers in a 121-113 win, a sharp jump from last seasons 30.8 per game, and the shot profile alone looked different enough to catch the eye even before the comeback from a 22-point hole.
Duncan Robinson, Javonte Green, Isaiah Joe and Kevin Huerter all factored into the spread-the-floor approach, giving Detroit the kind of perimeter volume fans have wanted to see for years. One game does not make a season, of course, but after spending the offseason talking about the need to improve from deep, the Pistons at least gave themselves a template worth watching closely as the schedule moves on. [Read more 🡒]
John Collins Already Has The Pistons Facing A Tough Defensive Question
John Collins first night in a Pistons uniform offered an early glimpse of both the upside and the problems Detroit will have to sort through. He gave the team some useful minutes with a block and a few offensive rebounds, the kind of activity that can matter in a game where every possession counts. But the bigger takeaway came on the other end, where Collins had a rough time holding up defensively in his new setting.
Detroit tried to work around it by shifting Collins to center, hoping the matchup would settle in, but the adjustment did not really solve the issue. Paul George found room to score against him, and the problem only looked more complicated when bigger opponents came into play, including Mitchell Robinson. For a Pistons group trying to piece together lineups early, Collins fit may end up being defined less by what he can add and more by how they hide what he gives up. [Read more 🡒]
Pistons Just Turned Bostons Big Debut Into A Celtics Problem
Bostons season opener quickly turned into a reminder that early NBA games can still say plenty about where a team is headed. The Celtics built a 22-point lead against Detroit, only to let it slip away in a loss that had Jayson Tatum finishing with 13 points on rough shooting while Paul George carried the offensive load with 38 points and also made his presence felt on the defensive end.
Social media did what it always does after a collapse like that, with fans split between frustration at the coaching and player execution and calls to remember how long the season is. From Detroits perspective, it was the kind of result that can travel well beyond one night, because handing Boston an opener like that immediately changes the tone around the Celtics and gives the Pistons an early jolt of attention. [Read more 🡒]