DETROIT -- At first, it looked like it was going to be a close game. The Boston Celtics and Detroit Pistons were neck and neck. Then, the Celtics pulled ahead thanks to Paul George.
Then the tide turned. The Pistons turned up the pressure once again. Boston couldn't handle it, and Detroit made them pay in transition. That was it.
The Pistons went on a massive run at the end of the third and into the fourth. At one point, the run was 23-0. The Celtics never recovered from it. Boston played ugly, ugly basketball, and it cost them. Detroit won its home opener 121-113.
Up: Paul George
Health is going to be a huge factor. If George can't stay on the court, he won't be nearly as impactful. But the version of George Boston got on Tuesday afternoon was eyebrow-raising.
George looked like the two-way force he was at the peak of his career. Causing problems on the defensive end and nailing contested looks on offense. It was an impressive, well-rounded display of basketball.
And the Celtics needed him to be effective. Detroit's defensive pressure hounded the Celtics' ball-handlers, so having a guy who could take and make tough shots was crucial.
By the third quarter, George's buckets had the entire Celtics bench on its feet. The gasp of the Celtics fans in attendance overpowered the Detroit crowd as he sank three after three.
On a night when a lot of the Celtics' other offensive options came up short, George was there to pick them up. Boston needed every one of his buckets.
Down: Jayson Tatum
Jayson Tatum looked in sync with the Celtics' impressive defensive system and was an offensive hub for most of the night. The assists show that. Those are the only two positives.
Early in the game, Boston worked hard to find Tatum easy looks off the ball. Yet whether it was because of a turnover or a fumbled pass, those chances didn't work out.
As Tatum tried to find a rhythm throughout the contest, it wasn't there. He missed bunnies. Open mid-range shots. Pull-up threes within the flow of the offense. Outside of a few attempts, the shot selection wasn't awful. But Tatum couldn't score.
There were also moments when he got beat on the glass way too easily. Detroit's offensive rebounding kept them in this game. Tatum didn't do enough to help, especially in the first quarter.
Most of the shots were fine. He was just way too inefficient. You have to make the easy ones before you start taking the hard ones. Tatum skipped the first step in that equation.
In the fourth quarter, however, Tatum looked rough. Bad shots, bad misses, and even worse transition defense -- all on one play as Detroit was mounting its comeback. Boston needed Tatum to step up and lead them. He didn't. He couldn't score.
Up: Celtics defense
During the preseason, Boston's new defensive scheme was the talk of the town. They backed that up in this game. It was far from perfect, and the Pistons went on their runs, but the Celtics were hounds on defense.
Throughout the first half, in particular, the Celtics were scrambling, connected, and effective. So were the Pistons. It was a true defensive battle.
Detroit found a flow late in the third quarter, but most of their chances came in transition. They pushed the pace off Boston's missed shots and played against a scrambling Celtics defense.
It works best in the half-court when they have a chance to set up and get settled, so it's not a perfect system. But when the Celtics do get that chance, the defense looks great. They just need to have a consistent enough offense for it to get to that point.
Down: The bigs
This was not a great night for Boston's big-man trio. None of the three made an overwhelming impact. If anything, they were a bit detrimental at times.
Detroit looked great on the offensive glass. Neemias Queta and Mitchell Robinson, in particular, should be able to hold down the boards. But they didn't. Not consistently, at least.
Defensively, they also gave up some easy looks to Jalen Duren. They were either out of rotation or too slow to recover when they needed to.
Even Luka Garza, who got a chance to play after a Robinson injury scare, wasn't the best version of himself. He fought on the offensive glass and set good screens, but he was a foul machine.
Up: Payton Pritchard
It's not easy to go up against the Pistons' ball pressure. But Payton Pritchard handled it beautifully. Every time it looked like the Pistons were able to get the best of him, he found a way out.
The buckets weren't necessarily plentiful for the Celtics. Neither were the assists. But he still found a way to make an impact on offense.
Most of his points came from the free-throw line. When he escaped the Pistons' clutches, he used the contact to his advantage. He used Detroit's pressure against it.
Pritchard wasn't great on the glass. He's just small. The Pistons went at him when they had the chance. But offensively, he was an important steadying force for Boston.
Down: Rebounding
No more dancing around the subject. I mentioned it as part of the big-man section. As part of the Tatum and Pritchard sections, too. The Celtics weren't good enough on the glass. The defensive glass, in particular.
That's what the Pistons do. They hustle. They look for opportunities on the offensive glass, and they use those to keep their offense afloat.
It's what happened in all of the Celtics' matchups against them last season, and it happened again on Tuesday afternoon. If Boston lost focus for even a millisecond, the Pistons were there.
Honorable mentions
Shot-making is important for the Celtics. When they make a shot, they can set their defense. When they don't, the other team gets to run in transition.
That was how the Pistons made their second-half comeback. Whenever the Celtics missed a shot or got a bad look, the Pistons made them pay for it.
Detroit sprinted the floor and attacked a Celtics defense that didn't have a chance to get set. When Boston did set its defense, it looked good. So, the more consistent the offense, the more consistent the defense. It's all connected.
Derrick White played well on defense, and he made a couple of big shots, but it wasn't a perfect day. He was a solid playmaker, but the turnovers were costly at times.