Boston Blew a 22-Point Lead After Going 38-0 Last Season When Up 20+, and the League Is Watching

Man, talk about a gut punch to kick off the NBA season! The Boston Celtics absolutely melted down on Tuesday, blowing a massive 22-point lead in a 121-113 loss to the Detroit Pistons.

A Collapse for the Record Books

This wasn’t just any blown lead, folks. Insider Keerthika Uthayakumar dropped the truth bomb: it was Boston’s biggest collapse since February 2025. You wanna know what’s even crazier? Last season, these guys were an untouchable 38-0 when they built a lead of 20 or more points! Thirty-eight and zero! And they toss this one away on opening night? The NBA even announced Detroit’s comeback was the largest on the first day of an NBA season since the play-by-play era started way back in the 1997-98 campaign. That’s a brutal piece of history to be on the wrong side of.

PG’s Heroics Wasted by Tatum’s Off Night

It looked like the Celtics were gonna cruise, especially with Paul George putting on a show in his first game in a new uniform. The man was electric, dropping 38 points, grabbing five steals, five rebounds, and dishing out three assists. He even set a new franchise record for points in a debut! What a way to start, right? But even his incredible performance couldn’t save them. Why? Because Detroit went absolutely bonkers with a 23-0 run in the fourth quarter, seizing control right in front of a hyped home crowd. Cade Cunningham led that charge for the Pistons, racking up 22 points, eight assists, and four rebounds. And let’s be real, Boston probably doesn’t blow this if Jayson Tatum plays anywhere near his normal level. Ausar Thompson was glued to him all night, playing excellent defense and hounding Tatum on tons of shots. Tatum finished a rough 6-of-23 from the field and went 0-of-7 from deep. He tried to make up for it with 11 assists, but it just wasn’t enough.

So, the Celtics ended up blowing a lead in a way they literally didn’t do all of last season. That’s gotta sting, and it’s gotta raise some serious questions. How do you bounce back from something like that right out of the gate? This is an early season gut check, and Boston needs to figure out fast how to close games, especially when they’re up big. The whole league just saw what Detroit can do, and what happens when Boston loses focus.

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Originally reported by Bleacher Report.