Detroit — The Pistons’ regular-season schedule is officially out, and fans can begin making preparations for another year in the franchise’s rebuild toward postseason contention.
Detroit will open the season on the road against the Miami Heat on Oct. 25, which could be a good measuring stick to see how the re-tooled roster fares against the Eastern Conference champs.
Detroit will also play an international game against the Oklahoma City Thunder in the preseason, when the interconference foes meet in Montreal on Oct. 8.
More: Pistons to open season at Miami; home opener is Oct. 28 vs. Bulls
Here are six takeaways from the Pistons’ regular-season schedule:
Goin’ back-to-back
“Oh man, oh man,” — the opening lines of Drake’s infamous diss track “Back to Back” — would be a fitting reaction to describe the Pistons’ first 20 games of the regular season. The Pistons will have completed five of their 15 pairs of back-to-back games within the first quarter of the season.
Detroit won’t have much time to recover before its home opener against the Bulls on Oct. 28 because they’ll be in Charlotte the night before for a visit with the Hornets, who drafted Alabama forward Brandon Miller with the second-overall pick. After that road-home back-to-back, they’ll have a home-road back-to-back on Nov. 1 and 2, with games against the Portland Trail Blazers and New Orleans Pelicans. The rebuilding Pistons will host two experienced title contenders the following week, when the Golden State Warriors and Phoenix Suns visit Little Caesars Arena on Nov. 5 and 6. The final two sets of back-to-backs within that span are a road-home combo against the Toronto Raptors and Denver Nuggets on Nov. 19 and 20, along with a home-road set against the Los Angeles Lakers and New York Knicks.
No matter the strength of the opponents, back-to-backs are challenging because of the quick turnaround that’s also impacted by the team’s travel schedule. For veteran teams, they can take a toll, but they can benefit young teams such as the Pistons, who have a little less mileage on their legs. Either way, it’s important for Detroit to strive to win as many games as they can during the first 20 games in order to remain competitive against the rest of the league. The first six games are in play, especially if they can catch the defending Eastern Conference-champion Heat off guard on opening night.
West-coast road trip(s)
The Pistons will have two instances this season when they’ll be on the west coast for at least a week at a time. Detroit will travel to play the Houston Rockets on New Year’s Day, which is an intriguing matchup due to the budding rivalry between the two franchises. Both teams have been lottery staples in recent years and feature some of the best young talent in the league. Detroit has former No. 1-overall pick Cade Cunningham, along with Jaden Ivey, Jalen Duren and Ausar Thompson. Houston’s recent draftees include Jalen Green, Jabari Smith Jr. and new rookies Amen Thompson and Cam Whitmore. That game is followed by contests against the Utah Jazz (Jan. 3), Golden State Warriors (Jan. 5) and Denver Nuggets (Jan. 7) on that trip.
After that appetizer, the Pistons will embark on their second — and longest — trip out west in February, shortly before the All-Star break. Detroit will play five games in eight days, with matchups against the Sacramento Kings, Trail Blazers and both teams in Los Angeles before ending the trip in Phoenix, which marks Monty Williams’ official return to the desert to coach against his former team.
All-Star break
This season’s All-Star Game will be held on Feb. 18 in Indianapolis. The Pistons could have legitimate representation from at least three players. Ivey, Duren and depending on how well Thompson performs, could be prime candidates for the Rising Stars Challenge, a matchup between the league’s top rookies and sophomores. Ivey and Duren were named to the event last season, but Duren did not participate because of bilateral ankle injuries. After the All-Star festivities end, the team will return to Indianapolis to play the Pacers on Feb. 22.
Could this year mark a big breakthrough for Cade Cunningham to make the All-Star roster after a shortened season due to injury last year?
Road warriors at the finish
Nine of the Pistons’ last 11 games are on the road, which is daunting when that’s the time of the year that teams are solidifying seeding and vying for potential playoff and play-in spots. Detroit aspires to be one of those teams playing meaningful basketball around that time, and if so, the road environment would be good preparation for the postseason. However, the backloaded road schedule makes the front half of the Pistons’ schedule that much more important, especially with lengthy homestands in January and March. It’s a similar format to the end of last season when the Pistons played seven of their final 12 games on the road.
Schedule comparison
According to Positive Residual, a sports analytics firm, the Pistons are tied with the Lakers for the fourth-hardest strength of schedule, and they’ll have six games in which they have a rest advantage. The Pistons’ strength of schedule is tilted because the Pistons had one of the worst records last season.
mcurtis@detroitnews.com
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