NBA Opening Night Preview: Detroit Pistons vs. Atlanta Hawks
NBA’s big opening night has three champions in each match. The Golden State Warriors are the Western champions winning the regular season, the Western Conference Finals and of course, the Larry O’Brien Trophy. The Cleveland Cavaliers were the Eastern Conference Champions and the Atlanta Hawks were the Eastern regular season’s champions winning the top seed in the East by finishing with the best record in the 82 game season.
Tomorrow morning, the Hawks start their 2015-16 season at home by taking on the Detroit Pistons. The Atlanta Hawks remain a Championship caliber team in the East with their coach Mike Budenholzer. The Pistons will try to get into the Playoffs this season after concluding with a low 32-50 ratio last time.
The match begins at 5:30 IST tomorrow morning at the Philips Arena, Atlanta.
Projected Line-ups:
Detroit Pistons
PG- Reggie Jackson
SG- Kentavious Caldwell-Pope
SF- Marcus Morris
PF- Ersan Ilyasova
C- Andre Drummond
Atlanta Hawks
PG- Jeff Teague
SG- Kyle Korver
SF- Kent Bazemore
PF- Paul Millsap
C- Al Horford
Atlanta Hawks:
The biggest off-season loss for the Hawks has inarguably been DeMarre Carroll. It wouldn’t be right to say that he won’t be missed by the Hawks but their roster is still overflowing with All-Stars. Besides, it has been confirmed that Kent Bazemore will replace Carroll in the starting line-up tomorrow.
“It’s a blessing to be out there with four All-Stars, It’s a dream come true. We’ve got a long season ahead of us and, obviously, I have some big shoes to fill. Let’s get after it.”
Kent Bazemore, SF Atlanta Hawks
Bazemore appeared in 75 games, 10 starts, for the Hawks last season. He averaged 5.2 points, 3.0 rebounds and 1.0 assists in 17.6 minutes. His role expanded late in the regular season and into the playoffs with season-ending injuries to Sefolosha and Kyle Korver.
The team has a great chemistry with Bazemore and the line-up is pretty much the same with the exception of Carroll. They were a 68 wins team last season and there is no question they’ll dominate this season too. They may not have a real chance at defeating the Cavs, but being in contest for the second best team on a conference is pretty fantastic in itself.
Detroit Pistons:
The Pistons are desperate to improve this season. Andre Drummond is expected to have a monster season now that the Pistons decided to ship off Greg Monroe to the Bucks.
The spotlight in Detroit has been focused on Andre Drummond and Reggie Jackson all offseason. Neither missed a day in the fitness center and led team bonding trips as well. The two youngsters will have a true test both offensively and defensively in Georgia, as they’ll both be matched up against former all-stars, Al Horford and Jeff Teague.
Reggie Jackson and Brandon Jennings will also be required to shoulder a lot of the offensive output as the Pistons did little to improve their roster except for the inclusion of Marcus Morris and Steve Blake who are both expected to come off the bench.
Prediction:
The Hawks only lost 6 games at home last season. They are an elite team in the Eastern Conference. They finished last season with the best record in the East above the mighty Cleveland Cavaliers.
The Pistons finished 12th last season in the Eastern Standings. They are an improving team that didn’t make any radically positive changes in the off-season. They hope to make the Playoffs this season.
The expectations that these teams have entering the season are very different. The Hawks want to prove that last year was not a fluke and that they truly are an elite NBA team. As for the Pistons, they want to prove that they are no longer the laughing stock of the league and are talented enough to make the playoffs. The script for this season has yet to be written for either team.
The Hawks are likely to overcome the Pistons on opening night simply because they are the better team with the better coach with home court advantage.
They’re an extremely dominant team, check out what they did last year: