Pistons vs. Hawks GameThread: Game Time, TV, Odds, and More

The vibes are good in Detroit, momentarily, anyway. The wins have not piled up for the Detroit Pistons, but the franchise has seen solid early returns from its two rookies selected in the lottery, and second-year guard Cade Cunningham emerged from a sleepy start to the year with a forceful showing in the first half Wednesday against the Atlanta Hawks.

Tonight, they play the Hawks once more, and they are doing it in style. They are trading in their typical jerseys for the throwback teal, and flaming horsehead classic 90s look. It’s not a hit with everyone in the fan base, but something tells me Little Caesars Arena will be buzzing. And fans better soak in those good vibes because the schedule for the next 1.5 months is absolutely brutal.

Game Vitals

When: 7 p.m. ET
Where: Little Caesars Arena, Detroit, Michigan
Watch: Bally Sports Detroit
Odds: Pistons +6

Projected Lineups

Detroit Pistons (1-4)

Cade Cunningham, Cory Joseph, Saddiq Bey, Bojan Bogdanovic, Isaiah Stewart

Atlanta Hawks (3-1)

Trae Young, Dejounte Murray, DeAndre Hunter, John Collins, Clint Capela

Pregame Reading

• The NBA wants to swap out the existing luxury tax for a firmer spending limit, per Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN. The goal seems to be to increase parity in the face of franchises like Golden State, Brooklyn and the Clippers of Los Angeles spending into the tax with abandon. It’s likely a non-starter and just posturing as the self-imposed deadline for a new CBA approaches in December, but worth keeping an eye on.
• I’m not saying the Pistons are destined for the top of the lottery, but I’m not not saying it is possible. To that end, it might be interesting to note that the NBA is broadcasting all of Victor Wembanyama’s games with Boulogne-Levallois on the NBA app.
• The Detroit Free Press sat down with GM Troy Weaver for a quick Q&A where he touched on just about every significant member of the team, including Cade, Ivey, Duren and Beef Stew.
• James Edwards offers up 5 observations after Detroit’s first five games at The Athletic. I won’t pretend it’s earth-shattering stuff, James is seeing what we’re all seeing, but he’s putting in sharp focus as only he can. I will say my favorite item — “The Pistons need to play bigger more often.” Yup.