Detroit Pistons’ Bickerstaff Compares NBA Season Opener To Christmas

On the eve of the NBA regular season, the Detroit Pistons have a renewed sense of optimism in the building at the Henry Ford Health Pistons Performance Center. Tomorrow, the Pistons will share the honor of kicking off the 2026-27 campaign with the Boston Celtics in the afternoon time slot at 3 pm sharp. 

With that season opener just around the corner, Detroit will have a new opportunity to stake out their claim as a contender in the Eastern Conference after earning the top seed last season. The Celtics, on the other hand, will be chasing an opportunity to establish themselves in the Tatum-George era after a summer filled with roster turnover in Beantown. 

“The mood is great,” Pistons head coach J.B. Bickerstaff said today at practice. “Excited just to get the season going again. It’s like Christmas, especially the 3 o’clock game. It comes so soon and being the official opener, I think there is some extra excitement to it. We’re looking forward to it.”

During the preseason, the Pistons had a chance to see how their group looked in live action after making a fair amount of offseason adjustments themselves. Most prominently, John Collins is expected to move in the starting lineup without Tobias Harris in the Motor City any longer, but the first five should be a copy-paste situation for the other four positions according to Detroit’s preseason showing. Barring any bizarre last-minute circumstances, Cade Cunningham will start at the point with Duncan Robinson on the wing and Jalen Duren down in the low post. 

At times, Collins slid down to the five to give Detroit a look for what small-ball minutes could look like this season, but that wrinkle is still a work in progress, as is the possibility of Ausar Thompson running the point. The Pistons worked on both of those concepts during the preseason, though it’s unclear how often they plan to utilize those options tomorrow afternoon against the Celtics. 

So far, all four of Detroit’s exhibition contests have occurred in their usual evening time slots, but the Pistons have a much earlier clock-in time tomorrow as the first game of the NBA regular season. 

”It is what it is at this point,” Bickerstaff said. “I think I understand why in opening the game up to the international market, so it makes sense. The league does a great job of growing its fanbase and outreach, so I think this is just another example of it.”

As Bickerstaff mentioned, a 3 pm tip-off time allows for hoops fans worldwide to have a chance at watching along as the first few pages of the 2026-27 story are written on the hardwood between two storied franchises. Both the Pistons and the Celtics have lofty expectations for what they hope to accomplish this year, so tomorrow’s matchup could even serve as a preview for an Eastern Conference playoff battle six months from now. 

Last season, the Pistons held an upper hand over the Celtics with a 3-1 edge in the season series, though Jayson Tatum was notably injured for each of those contests. So, Detroit will have a new challenge on their hands tomorrow afternoon as they attempt to nullify the two-man impact between Tatum and George.