Celtics announce starting lineup before opening game against Pistons

DETROIT, MI - JANUARY 19: Cade Cunningham #2 of the Detroit Pistons plays defense during the game against Derrick White #9 of the Boston Celtics on January 19, 2026 at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, Michigan. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2026 NBAE (Photo by Brian Sevald/NBAE via Getty Images) | NBAE via Getty Images

DETROIT — The Celtics will start Derrick White, Jordan Walsh, Jayson Tatum, Paul George, and Mitchell Robinson in their Opening Day game against the Detroit Pistons.

In the Celtics’ two full-strength preseason games, Joe Mazzulla started the same five-person squad. The team went 4-0 in the preseason and finished first in net rating, defensive rating, and rebounding percentage.

The Pistons, meanwhile, will start Cade Cunningham, Duncan Robinson, Ausar Thompson, John Collins, and Jalen Duren.

“In all honesty, I think people care about it too much — it lasts five minutes,” Mazzulla said. “There’s still 43 minutes left in the game. end-of-quarter lineups are important, start-to-quarter lineups are important, end-of-game lineups are important. So I think it just gets overblown.”

Mazzulla explained that he gameplans lots of different lineups for different in-game situations, and that all are equally important.

“I put in just as much thought as I do as an end-of-line-up as I would a starting lineup, versus an end-to-half lineup, versus a lineup when you’re winning, a lineup when you’re losing, a need-three lineup,” he said. “There’s 10 different lineups, so they all carry the same weight to me.”

Mazzulla also noted that the starting lineup on Opening Night rarely holds throughout the entirety of the season.

“The year is 82 games,” Mazzulla said. “It’s a long year. I guarantee you tonight’s won’t be the same one for 82 games. But, I put just as much stock in the other 9 lineups that we may or may not need to go to within a particular game.”

At practice on Monday, Payton Pritchard, the 2025 Sixth Man of the Year, made it clear he wasn’t concerned about starting.

“To me, a starter is the amount of minutes you play,” he said. “Do you finish games? Are you playing 30-plus minutes? Then you are a starter.”

“How you impact the game is what really matters to me. I don’t really care. This might be an ego thing — like I don’t really care to hear my name called at the beginning of the game. The first five minutes of the game really have no effect on the game.”

Last year, when at full strength, the team started Derrick White, Sam Hauser, Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum, and Neemias Queta. Hauser started 49 games, but Jordan Walsh (25 games), Baylor Scheierman (20 games), Ron Harper Jr. (3 games), and Hugo Gonzalez (3 games) also got opportunities to start at the wing spot.