Detroit Pistons Schedule: 1st game has some compelling subplots

The Detroit Pistons released their 2022-23 schedule yesterday, and as reported, will kick off their season against the Orlando Magic.

It will be a battle of two up-and-coming teams that finished at the bottom of the Eastern Conference last season but are hoping to turn things around and climb the standings.

Both teams are loaded with young talent and are in a race to see which bad team in the East will get good first.

Hopefully the home fans in Detroit will get treated to an opening night win to get the season started the right way to avoid the type of horrific start that submarined last season.

Aside from two young teams on the come up, there are a number of interesting subplots in this one, especially for two teams that won a combined 45 games lasts season.

When does the Detroit Pistons season start?

The season will tip off on October 19th at 7:00 PM ET in Little Caesar’s Arena in downtown Detroit, and one of the interesting subplots will be the battle of the big men.

The Pistons have five players who can play the center position, and they will need them all against an Orlando team that has a number of bigs of their own.

One of the big questions around this Pistons’ team is how they are going to use their bigs, and we’ll get an idea right away, as they will likely all be on call against Mo Bamba, Jonathan Isaac, Wendell Carter Jr. and rookie Paolo Banchero.

Will Isaiah Stewart get the start at center or will he begin the season as the four with Marvin Bagley III, Nerlens Noel or even rookie Jalen Duren at center?

Will the Pistons’ bigs be able to create any mismatches? None of the Magic centers are great at switching on the perimeter, so we may get our first taste of “Stretch Stew” launching some three point shots in an effort to create space.

Dwane Casey has a lot of lineup and rotation possibilities and his big man group will get tested right away against a deep Orlando front court.