DETROIT — If you didn’t know any better, you may have thought you were watching the Paul George of old.
In his Celtics debut at Little Caeser Arena, George shot lights-out, hitting three after three while the Celtics’ bench rejoiced. Most of the night, the 36-year-old looked like the best player on the floor, carrying the load offensively while taking on tough defensive assignments on the other end.
George erupted for 12 points in the second quarter, and followed that up with a 17-point third. In total,
he finished opening night with 38 points, 5 steals, 5 rebounds, and 3 assists, hitting 7 of 12 three-pointers and 12 of his 21 shot attempts.
George also set a new record for most points by a Celtics player in his debut, surpassing Kristaps Porzingis’s 30-point debut in 2023.
“He was unbelievable, just the confidence he played with,” said Jayson Tatum. “Obviously, made plays on defense, but just kind of getting to his spots, his ability to defend, and get on the run and be able to space the floor and attack certain matchups.”
George’s tremendous individual performance ended up not mattering; the Celtics blew a 22-point second-half lead, in large part due to a 23-0 Pistons fourth quarter run and a 15-point Duncan Robinson fourth quarter.
As such, George made clear that the final outcome soured the way he felt about his otherwise-spectactular debut.
“I’m not a moral victory guy, so it means nothing,” he said. “We lost. Just got to get ready for the next one.”
Still, though the Celtics’ demonstrated a litany of issues in the regular-season opener — they were outrebounded, for one — George’s performance was a significant bright spot, and a great way to turn the page on a couple of injury-riddled years.
Paul George has maintained all year: he’s the healthiest he’s been in years
George said he hasn’t felt this healthy since he was with the Los Angeles Clippers in the 2023-2024 season, and it showed.
“I was pretty healthy to finish my last year there, and then honestly, going to Philly, I just had a bad hyperextension that really set me back, and I couldn’t quite shake that one — it was an ongoing thing of my leg, my knee not feeling strong, and it was rough, right?” George said. “Because I was trying to rest, but I was also trying to be available for the team, and just couldn’t quite find the time to let it all come together.”
But, George has since made a full recovery, and he’s beginning to show the world what a difference full health makes on his ability to play on both ends.
“This summer was huge,” he said. “I had a great summer, had time off, and coming into this year, I knew it was going to be a big one. It was going to be a fun one, a great opportunity, and so I was just happy that I was able to attack this summer with working on my game, more so than rehabbing and working on my body.”
Still, despite the clean bill of health, George was candid in sharing that Celtics training camp marked a significant transition.
“It’s been a rough camp for me, I would say – just trying to figure out new concepts, new terms, new plays, playing off other guys, just finding rhythm within that,” he said Wednesday, adding that part of it was also just getting back into game shape.
“The camp legs were just heavy. I was winded a lot of times. So it was taking away the ability to kind of do things when I just felt a little heavy and sluggish, but I’m getting my wind back. I’m getting my legs back. I feel like I’m getting my pop back, and so that was kind of the difference-maker.”
George has credited his teammates for helping him adjust over the past few weeks, and for empowering him to have such a big debut.
“It was fun to watch,” Derrick White said. “Obviously, he got super hot and trying to find him in different ways. But everything, even defensively, causing turnovers and being disruptive, it was a lot of fun. He played a hell of a game.”
Mazzulla, who has praised George through training camp, said he appreciated how the veteran approached the opener.
“He made some great reads throughout the game,” Mazzulla said. “He was able to find advantages for himself and others and be aggressive, and we just have to continue that.”
As for George, he gave a lot of the credit to his teammates and coaches, who have instilled confidence in him since he arrived in Boston.
“Credit to these guys, though, they did an amazing job keeping me in the loop, making me feel a part of the team at all points throughout this process,” he said. “[Credit to] Joe for making you know the game easier for me, D-White, Payton, JT, all of those guys. The bigs freeing me up, all of them are collectively a part of me feeling confident and playing with rhythm out there.”
George, like the rest of the Celtics, will look closely at what went wrong in the 121-113 loss.
And, he won’t overreact in either direction.
“There are good days, and there are bad days,” he said. “I’m always even-keeled. I won’t get too high on this. It’s a long season. It’s more so about being consistent for these guys.”
