Detroit Pistons (1-0) beat Boston Celtics (0-1) 121-113 at home on Tuesday, October 20. The 8-point margin reflected a steady advantage.
Pistons trailed by 13 at halftime. They were down as many as 13 after the second quarter before turning it around. The decisive stretch came in the fourth quarter, which Pistons won 39-25.
Under the surface, Pistons won the rebounding battle 49-39, Pistons got to the line 32 times to 21, and Pistons' reserves outscored the other bench 39-25.
Jalen Duren led Pistons with 22 points on 8-of-13 shooting, 9 rebounds. For Celtics, Paul George had 38 points on 12-of-21 shooting.
Ausar Thompson (11 pts, 11 reb, 5 ast) and Jayson Tatum (13 pts, 4 reb, 11 ast) each posted a double-double.
The result fit the pre-game picture, with Pistons given about a 65% chance by our ratings.
Over the last 8 meetings in our records, the series is even.
Written by Tip Off Live from box score data supplied by BALLDONTLIE. Ratings and probabilities are our own model estimates.