The Detroit Pistons will meet last season's Eastern Conference runners-up Toronto Raptors in their NBA 2016-2017 season-opening game to be held on Oct. 26, Wednesday at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto, Ontario.
Start Time and Streaming Info
The game starts at 7:30 p.m. ET. It can be viewed live online thru the NBA League Pass.
Preview
Detroit is aiming to make the playoffs for the second straight year and head coach Stan Van Gundy is keen on taking the Pistons where they want to be this season, via Sports Chat Place.
The Pistons start their campaign without their primary playmaker, Reggie Jackson, who is sidelined by a UCL sprain and left knee tendinitis, and could miss 6 to 8 weeks. However, the threesome of Andre Drummond, Tobias Harris, and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope could be good enough to keep the team afloat while waiting for Jackson to return.
In Jackson's place is undrafted journeyman Ish Smith, who has the opportunity to finally be identified with an NBA club for the long-term in Detroit.
Completing the starting unit is power forward Marcus Morris, who is settling down quite nicely in Detroit after one whole season of playing under Van Gundy. The team's first five has a combination of both youth and experience which is an advantage if they could further develop their chemistry.
Meanwhile, the Raptors are eager to duplicate or even surpass their achievements last season when they pushed eventual NBA champions Cleveland Cavaliers to six games in the Eastern Conference Finals.
The team re-signed DeMar DeRozan to a five-year, $137.5 million deal, which means his partnership with team leader and point guard Kyle Lowry will go on. Lowry and DeRozan are considered as one of the best backcourt tandems in the league right now and the team can only go as far as where the duo can take them, as per Basketball Insiders.
Losing Bismack Biyombo in free-agency this summer lessens their depth up front, but the addition of Jared Sullinger could somehow alleviate the effects.
Jonas Valanciunas and Patrick Patterson are still the main bigs for head coach Dwane Casey, but the best news for the Raptors right now is that wingman DeMarre Carroll is 100 percent healthy to start the new season.
Prediction
Raptors win by a wide margin as Lowry and DeRozan continue to do their magic. The Pistons will struggle without Jackson in their first few games this season.
