After winning 60 games last year in the regular season, the Detroit Pistons will be included in a handful of NBA TV matchups during the 2026-27 campaign
Later in the month, the Detroit Pistons will report to the Henry Ford Health Performance Center for training camp, but the team’s first pre-season game is still just over a month away. With that important season opener on the docket, the league announced their entire slate of NBA TV games earlier today, and the Pistons are included for a handful of nationally televised broadcasts.
First up, the Los Angeles Lakers are set to travel to Motown for a 6 pm tip-off against the Pistons on Sunday, Nov. 8. This meeting between cross-conference foes will be intriguing since Detroit launched a slight charge to acquire Austin Reaves over the offseason, though the talented scorer opted to re-sign with the Lakers on a long-term basis. Also of note, 22-year old All-Star center Jalen Duren held a meeting with the Lakers at the start of free agency, so that’s another storyline to follow assuming that JD is in the lineup for this early season contest.
After that, the Pistons have another marquee matchup later in the week when the squad travels south to Miami on Nov. 14 at 8 pm for a game against the Heat. Now that Giannis Antetokounmpo is on the Heat alongside Bam Adebayo, this NBA TV battle features two teams that are hoping to contend for Eastern Conference supremacy. Since the Pistons made so many deals over the offseason to reshape their supporting cast, the team might still be rounding into form at this early juncture of the regular season, so it will be a helpful barometer in determining where Detroit is at.
Moving forward, the Pistons will go a month and a half without being featured on NBA TV before kicking off the next calendar with a New Year’s Day clash with the Orlando Magic at 7:30 pm. With the game taking place at Little Caesars Arena, this will be the third regular season meeting between the Pistons and the Magic in what will be a rematch of their first round series from the 2026 NBA Playoffs.
Five weeks later, the Pistons will play host against the Golden State Warriors on Sunday, Feb. 7 at 3 pm for a matinee squabble between the two sides. This game will be just about two weeks before the 2027 NBA All-Star Game, so everyone should have a decent idea of who will be competing in that exhibition game by the time the Pistons and Warriors play, a contest that could feature multiple All-Stars.
To wrap up the Pistons’ obligations on NBA TV for the 2026-27 campaign, Detroit will head north of the border to face the Toronto Raptors on March 14 at 5 pm. Since it looks like the Kawhi Leonard trade is set to go through after the league’s punishment in the cap circumvention case, the Raptors should be a dangerous squad to face with Scottie Barnes, a former teammate of Cade Cunningham in high school, still in the mix for Toronto.
Right now, several members of the Pistons are off holding offseason mini-camps of their own before coming together for training camp in the Motor City in order to prepare for these marquee NBA TV matchups.
