Paul George turned his regular season debut into a personal ‘fuck you’ to all of his haters. Unfortunately, he simply couldn’t win the game by himself.

The 36-year-old finished with 38 points, five rebounds, three assists and five steals in 31 minutes while shooting 12 of 21 from the field and 7 of 12 from three. That’s the most points any Celtic has ever scored in his debut, topping the 30 that Kristaps Porzingis put up in 2023.

The Detroit Pistons didn’t care, though. They came back from 22 points down to beat Boston, 121-113, in Tuesday’s season opener.

The Sixers gave up on George this summer

Remember how George got here. This summer, the Philadelphia 76ers sent him and two first-round picks to Boston for Jaylen Brown, and when you’re 36 and a team attaches two firsts to you to go get somebody else, the message is pretty clear.

George clearly got the message. He scored 12 of his 17 first-half points in the second quarter and passed Kyle Korver for eighth on the NBA’s all-time list for career threes along the way.

Then he came out of halftime and buried three triples in less than a minute, pushing Boston’s lead to 72-50 early in the third quarter. That’s not a guy who’s done, that’s a guy who’s been waiting all summer for somebody to hand him the ball.

Detroit took over once George went to the bench

Things fell apart once he went to the bench around the middle of the third, though. Detroit went on a 19-6 run, and Boston’s cushion was down to 88-82 heading into the fourth.

The Celtics still led 99-95 with 7:34 left. However, Javonte Green, who didn’t even play in the first half, hit a go-ahead three, Jalen Duren converted a three-point play and Duncan Robinson’s triple put Detroit up 107-99 with 5:10 to go.

Green’s fifth three of the night made it a 13-point game with 3:33 left, and that was that. The Pistons won the fourth quarter, 39-25.

Cade Cunningham led the way with 22 points and eight assists, while Duren added 22 points and nine rebounds. Robinson chipped in 21 points on 5 of 9 from deep, Green finished with 19 and Ausar Thompson had a double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds.

Tatum couldn’t find his shot

George didn’t get much help on the other side. Jayson Tatum had 13 points and 11 assists but missed 17 of his 23 shots in his first opener since tearing his Achilles in May 2025, while Derrick White and Payton Pritchard had 17 points apiece.

George isn’t interested in moral victories

George wasn’t interested in any silver linings after the game. “I’m not a moral victory guy,” he said, per Fox Sports. “It means nothing.”

Joe Mazzulla kept it simple when asked about his new star. “The game found him,” the Celtics head coach said. “He made some great reads throughout the game.”

Boston gets a chance to bounce back when it hosts the defending champion New York Knicks on Saturday morning. Let’s see if George can keep this going, because if he does, Philly might regret that trade sooner than it thinks.