Paul George Scored 38 in His Celtics Debut and Said He Has Not Felt This Healthy Since Los Angeles
Paul George scored 38 points in his first regular season game as a Boston Celtic on Tuesday afternoon, the most anyone has scored in a Celtics debut in franchise history, and Boston still lost 121-113 to the Pistons in Detroit.
The line: 12-for-21 from the floor, 7-for-12 from three, 7-for-8 at the line, five rebounds, three assists, five steals in about 31 minutes. Fourteen of those points came in the third quarter on 5-for-5 shooting and 3-for-3 from deep. He passed Kristaps Porzingis, who scored 30 in his Celtics debut in October 2023. Dominique Wilkins held the mark before that with 25 in 1994.
What he said about his body
Asked afterward when he last felt this healthy, George went back three years and two teams.
“I would say my stint in L.A.,” he said. “I was pretty healthy to finish my last year there. Going to Philly I just had a bad hyperextension that really set me back. It was an ongoing thing of my leg, my knee not feeling strong. It was rough because I was trying to rest but I was also trying to be available for the team. I just couldn’t quite find the time to let it all come together so here, I’m feeling a lot better.”
He was honest about how camp went, too. “It was a rough camp for me,” he said. “I thought, really, the camp, legs were just heavy. I was winded a lot of times.” Then: “I feel like I’m getting my pop back, and so that was kind of the difference maker.”
Boston paid a lot for this
George is a Celtic because Boston sent Jaylen Brown to Philadelphia on July 6, taking back George plus four picks, including 2028 and 2031 first-rounders. Brown made All-NBA Second Team last season and is 29. George is 36, in his 17th season, and has played 78 total games across two years with the 76ers: 41 in 2024-25 and 37 in 2025-26, when he averaged 17.3 points on 43.9 percent shooting. Boston owes him $54.1 million this season with a $56.6 million player option next year.
One night of 38 points does not settle that trade. What it answers is the only question that mattered in October, which was whether the knee still works. For one afternoon it did, against a 60-win team, on the road.
The rest of the game was ugly
Boston led by 22 and then surrendered a 23-0 run. Detroit shot 28-for-32 from the free throw line, got 21 points from Duncan Robinson and 19 off the bench from Javonte Green, who did not play in the first half. Cade Cunningham and Jalen Duren each had 22.
Jayson Tatum, fully cleared after returning from his Achilles rupture back in March, went 6-for-23 and 0-for-7 from three for 13 points with 11 assists. Joe Mazzulla’s response was the right one: “If you’re open, shoot it. I don’t care if he’s 0-for-10.” Derrick White had 17 points and eight assists, and Payton Pritchard added 17 off the bench.
Mazzulla on George: “The game found him.” That is a generous line for a night when a 36-year-old was the best player on the floor and his team lost anyway. The real test comes in March, because Boston traded a 29-year-old All-NBA wing for two years of a player who has reached 57 games once since 2019.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
