The NBA is rolling out the official schedule for the 2026-27 season. The full schedule will be released on Thursday, but the opening week's games were announced today. The Detroit Pistons will host the Boston Celtics in the first game of the season at 3 pm EST on Tuesday, October 20.
The first four days of the 2026-27 NBA regular season will feature nine national games across NBC/Peacock, ESPN and Prime Video.
— NBA Communications (@NBAPR) August 11, 2026
Fans can purchase tickets at https://t.co/kQADBA8FDD.
NBA Schedule Release presented by @Ticketmaster pic.twitter.com/0qep3dyAvw
Pistons-Celtics will kick off the 2026-27 NBA season
NBA having the season opener on a Tuesday afternoon is certainly surprising. In previous seasons, the league had a doubleheader on the first night of the season, which always included the reigning champions and their ring ceremony. This year, the NBA is going with a triple-header, with the Knicks' ring ceremony sandwiched between Pistons-Celtics and Spurs-Thunder.
These are three excellent games. Oklahoma City and San Antonio are arguably the two best teams in the league. New York and Philadelphia are starting the season as the co-favorites in the East on most betting markets. Boston and Detroit are right behind them in the East hierarchy per consensus.
This also highlights the Pistons' rise in the league's pecking order. Last season, Detroit only had 16 games on national television. This ranked 14th in the league. Teams like the Bucks, Cavs, Mavericks, and the Clippers all had more nationally televised games than the Pistons.
Not only did the Pistons not play on opening night last season, but they didn't have a nationally televised game until Week 2 of the regular season when they hosted the Cavaliers.
How many nationally televised games Detroit will have this season or whether they will have a Christmas game remains to be seen, but it's clear that the Pistons now belong in a different tier of NBA teams.
This is what happens when you win 60 games, turn yourself into a perennial playoff team, and have a budding superstar like Cade Cunningham.
The season opener against the Celtics will be an excellent opportunity for the Pistons to make a statement. Detroit is being counted out by most analysts after not making a splashy move this summer. Cunningham even talked about how they want to use this disrespect as fuel next season.
While the Pistons will be relying on their continuity, the Celtics will have several new pieces they need to integrate. The arrivals of Paul George and Mitchell Robinson and the departure of Jaylen Brown will take a while to get used to. The Pistons should have the advantage over the new-look Celtics, who will presumably have some kinks to figure out.
Detroit started last season with a loss, but ended up winning 15 of their first 17 games. This hot start got them the No. 1 seed in the East, which they didn't give up all season. In a much stronger Eastern Conference this season, the Pistons hope to have a similarly strong start. Beating Boston on opening night will go a long way.
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