“He Just Scored 38 Points — and Somehow His Team Still Found a Way to Collapse” — NBA Fans Question Whether One Superstar Can Carry This Roster

If you score 38 points in an NBA game, you’re supposed to walk off the court with a win.

Especially when you’re the biggest star on the floor.

Instead, Paul George walked off opening night with a painful lesson.

Individual brilliance doesn’t mean much when the rest of the game falls apart.

Despite George’s spectacular 38-point performance, the Boston Celtics somehow turned a winning position into a 121-113 loss against the Detroit Pistons after one of the most disastrous fourth-quarter collapses of the opening week.

And now fans are asking a difficult question.

How much is Paul George supposed to do on his own?

For three quarters, it looked like Boston had everything under control.

George was scoring from everywhere.

The offence was flowing.

The Celtics appeared headed toward a comfortable season-opening victory.

Then the fourth quarter arrived.

And everything changed.

Detroit suddenly looked like the aggressive team.

Boston suddenly looked rattled.

Possession after possession slipped away.

Momentum disappeared.

The lead disappeared.

Eventually, so did the game.

That’s what’s making the reaction so intense.

Because this wasn’t a night where George disappeared.

This wasn’t a night where the superstar failed to perform.

He delivered exactly what fans wanted.

Thirty-eight points.

Big shots.

Offensive leadership.

The type of performance championship teams are supposed to build around.

Instead, the Celtics wasted it.

That’s what should concern Boston fans.

The NBA is filled with talented rosters, but championships are often determined by what happens when adversity arrives. Every team looks impressive when shots are falling and confidence is high.

The real test comes when a game starts slipping away.

Detroit handled that test.

Boston didn’t.

And that’s why so many people are focusing on the roster rather than the star.

George wasn’t the problem.

The collapse around him was.

The most alarming part is how quickly things unravelled.

A season opener is supposed to create optimism.

Even losses can provide encouraging signs.

This one mostly provided questions.

Questions about depth.

Questions about late-game execution.

Questions about whether Boston has enough reliable support around its star when the pressure starts increasing.

Those aren’t pleasant discussions after Game 1.

But they’re unavoidable after blowing a lead the way the Celtics did.

What’s especially frustrating is that George gave Boston exactly the type of performance teams dream about getting from a franchise player.

The reason stars receive superstar salaries is because they’re supposed to carry teams through difficult stretches.

George did that.

The problem was that basketball isn’t a one-player sport.

Eventually somebody else has to make shots.

Eventually somebody else has to make defensive stops.

Eventually somebody else has to help finish the job.

Too often against Detroit, that help never arrived.

The result was one of the strangest box scores of the young season.

A superstar delivers 38 points.

His team still loses by eight.

That’s not supposed to happen.

Yet that’s exactly what happened here.

The good news for Boston is that it’s only one game.

Nobody’s season is determined in October.

There is time to improve.

Time to adjust.

Time to figure out roles and rotations.

But the concerns are legitimate.

Because while George’s performance proved he can still take over games, it also highlighted how heavily Boston may be leaning on him.

That’s a dangerous formula over the course of a long season.

The NBA punishes teams that rely too heavily on one player.

Even great performances have limits.

No matter how talented a star becomes, somebody eventually needs help.

That’s why fans are paying so much attention to this result.

They aren’t questioning Paul George.

They’re questioning everything around him.

The Celtics entered the season believing they had enough talent to compete.

Opening night suggested the answer may not be that simple.

Because if a 38-point masterpiece isn’t enough to secure a victory, bigger problems might be hiding beneath the surface.

And that’s the nightmare scenario for Boston.

Not that Paul George can’t carry the team.

That he may be asked to carry too much of it.