The Pistons revealed their schedule for the upcoming season on Thursday, and they will be tested out of the gate.
Detroit opens the J.B. Bickerstaff-Trajan Langdon era at home on Wed. Oct. 15 against the Pacers, who reached the Eastern Conference finals last season. Then they head to Cleveland to face Bickerstaff's former team, which reached the Eastern Conference semis last season, before coming home to play the reigning champion Celtics the next night.
Their next three games are against fellow Eastern Conference playoff teams in the Heat, 76ers and Knicks. The Pistons don't play a team that finished under .500 last season until visiting the Nets in early November. Tough sledding for a team coming off its worst season in franchise history.
The schedule does lighten up after that, with the Lakers, Hornets, Hawks and Rockets next on the docket.
In the NBA's second annual in-season tournament, now dubbed the Emirates NBA Cup, the Pistons will play group-play games at home against the Heat on Nov. 12 and the Bucks on Dec. 3 and on the road against the Raptors on Nov. 15 and the Pacers on Nov. 29. The knockout round runs from Dec. 10-17.
The Pistons have four national TV games on the schedule: at the Hornets, Cavaliers and Jazz on NBA TV and home against the 76ers on ESPN. They also have 13 back-to-backs. Single-game tickets are on sale now.
The Pistons also released their preliminary schedule of giveaways and theme nights, which is subject to change and will be confirmed in October. It can be found below, including three bobblehead nights:
