The Detroit Pistons first half schedule is absolutely brutal

The first half of the Detroit Pistons schedule is awfully challenging.

The first half of the NBA’s schedule was released, and the Detroit Pistons have a difficult road ahead. Their entire schedule (so far) can be found here.

Opening the season against the Minnesota Timberwolves on December 23rd is actually pretty fun, as Detroit will get a first look at Anthony Edwards, the newest number one overall pick.

Immediately following that is Andre Drummond‘s first visit back to the Motor City since his trade back in February, though it won’t quite be the reception we imagined without fans being able to be present.

However, their next 16 games are against teams who either will or could potentially make the playoffs this season. That stretch ends with another matchup against Cleveland, where the Pistons will finally catch a break.

It was already largely anticipated that this was going to be a tough year. Not just because of the ongoing circumstances surrounding the global pandemic, but because Detroit has a raw team. There are so many new pieces on board.

No one was expecting them to be a legitimate threat for playoff contention, but this release just put it into true perspective: It’s going to be a long season.

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The good news is that 8 of their first 12 games are at home. This could give the Pistons some sort of a jump start. Admittedly though, every single game will feel like it’s being held at a neutral site with no fans being allowed.

Some even worse news however is that of the 9 back-to-backs that Detroit will play, one of them is Denver/Utah, and the other one is Phoenix/Lakers. Both of their matchups against the Lakers will come on the second night of back-to-backs.

We knew everyone would have to play a condensed schedule this season, so that’s really no surprise. But the brutality that the Pistons will face is immeasurable.

Of the 36 games that they’re scheduled to play in the first-half of the season, only four of them come against teams that we can almost definitively say won’t make the playoffs. Cleveland (twice), Sacramento and San Antonio.

The bright side is that the main objective this season isn’t to win a title or achieve anything “meaningful” in terms of hardware. This is developmentally focused season, and Detroit will have plenty of opportunity to throw their guys to the fire.