The Detroit Pistons and Boston Celtics finished 1-2 in the Eastern Conference standings last season. Both teams failed to reach the conference finals during the playoffs and both might feel a little overlooked coming into this season.
That makes them an ideal pairing for an NBA opener on Tuesday afternoon in Detroit.
The Pistons have completely turned around their fortunes over the past two seasons under coach J.B. Bickerstaff. They won 60 games last season and come into this season with high expectations.
“I know what our guys are motivated to do, and they want to win. They want to win at a high level,” Bickerstaff said. “They want to compete at a high level, and we are very aware of that. We don’t pay attention to the outside noise. People’s words have no impact on us, and that’s how we approach it.”
All-NBA First Team selection Cade Cunningham remains the focal point of the offense, but the Pistons tried to improve their other perimeter options during the offseason. John Collins arrived from the Los Angeles Clippers as a sign-and-trade to start at power forward, partly due to his ability to stretch defenses. Noted 3-point threat Isaiah Joe was acquired in a trade with the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Top defender Ausar Thompson signed a rookie-scale extension and will seek to be a bigger part of the offense. Following prolonged and sometimes contentious negotiations, All-NBA Third Team selection Jalen Duren signed a long-term extension to remain Cunningham’s main pick-and-roll partner.
The team still revolves around toughness and defense. The Pistons forced more turnovers than any team in the league last season (16.9 per game) and held opponents to the third-lowest field-goal percentage (44.3%).
“When you play to your identity every night, you don’t skip steps,” Bickerstaff said. “You don’t miss the moment, and we try to play Pistons basketball every single night. And if you do that, you eventually build your way to where you want to be.”
The Celtics made one of the biggest — and most controversial — trades during the offseason. They sent Jaylen Brown, an All-NBA Second Team choice, to the Atlantic Division rival Philadelphia 76ers. That broke up the highly successful Brown-Jayson Tatum partnership.
Tatum, the four-time All-NBA First Team honoree, has fully recovered from the Achilles tear he suffered during the 2025 playoffs. He’ll be joined in the frontcourt by Paul George, who was part of the return in the Brown trade.
George, a former All-Star, endured two tumultuous seasons with the Sixers in which he appeared in just 78 games. The 36-year-old wants to show he can still perform at a high level.
“It’s refreshing. Hopefully, I can remain healthy,” George told The Boston Globe of his new opportunity. “I think I became a journeyman along the way (of my career). At this point, I would love to be able to call Boston home. I’m fully immersing myself into this organization with the guys. I’ve been more than happy. I’m ecstatic with being here, being around these guys, like they brought something else out of me that, to be quite frank, has been buried, and that’s just a different passion. There’s a love again for this game, and I just think everything is kind of just aligning at the right time for me here.”
Former New York Knicks big man Mitchell Robinson, who was signed as a free agent, also will make his Celtics debut on Tuesday.
