The Detroit Pistons won’t have to wait long to test themselves against their peers in the Eastern Conference, as they will play almost all of their pre-Christmas games against conference foes.
Of the first 28 games of the season, 20 of them will be against teams from the East, which is good and bad news for the Pistons.
As I’ve written about, Detroit was disastrous against teams in their own division last season, going just 2-10 against the Cavaliers, Pacers and Bucks.
The Pistons went just 4-15 combined against the Celtics, Cavaliers, Magic, Pacers and Bucks last season, and they will face all of them before Christmas.
Detroit will play Boston twice, the Cavaliers once, the Magic twice, Pacers twice and Bucks three times before the holidays. The Pistons have struggled mightily against the Bucks over the last decade, including losing all four games last season, so these are games they will have circled on their calendar.
The Pistons will get a chance to prove they are one of the best teams in the East, and they’ll also get a chance to beat up on some weaker opponents to pad their win total.
Detroit Pistons’ schedule: The good and bad news before X-mas
The good news is that the Celtics, Pacers and Bucks might all be worse next season, though I wouldn’t count on it, as all of these teams have All-Star talent remaining and will have something to prove.
The Magic should be better next season, and the Cavaliers will be very good again, so these games aren’t going to be any easier just because Boston and Indiana have suffered unfortunate injuries to their stars.
But the Pistons will also get to play the Bulls twice before Xmas, including in Chicago on opening night and they’ll also get the 76ers twice before Xmas, which could be good or bad depending on the injury status of their stars.
The Pistons will get the Nets, Wizards and Hornets as well, so they will have plenty of winnable Eastern Conference games in the first stretch of the season.
The Pistons can’t stumble coming out of the gate or they will be in a big hole in their own conference, but they will also have a chance to put themselves in the driver’s seat if they can beat up on the bad teams and start to take some from the East gatekeepers who have been beating up on them for years.