October 23rd NBA Game Previews

The Detroit Pistons take on the Indiana Pacers at Bankers Life Fieldhouse on Wednesday evening in the regular-season opener for both teams.

The Pistons (0-0) finished the 2018-19 season with a 41-41 mark that netted them the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs. However, that ultimately resulted in a 4-0 sweep at the hands of the Milwaukee Bucks, but the team only made some complementary personnel moves this offseason. Veterans Derrick Rose, Tony Snell and Markieff Morris are on board, with Snell set to open the season as the starting small forward. Holdovers Reggie Jackson, Blake Griffin and Andre Drummond will once again constitute Detroit's core, although Griffin will miss the start of the season with hamstring and knee issues.

In addition Griffin's confirmed absence, the Pistons will also be without Luke Kennard (knee). They're also listing Morris and Jackson as questionable and probable, respectively, with back injuries.

The Pacers (0-0) are coming off a solid 48-34 season that ended in a four-game sweep at the hands of the Boston Celtics in the postseason. A season-ending knee injury to Victor Oladipo did Indiana's chances of success no favors, and the star guard enters the 2019-20 campaign in the final stages of his recovery. The offseason saw the addition of a trio of talented veterans in Malcolm Brogdon, Jeremy Lamb and T.J. Warren, with all set to play an important role right from the start of the season. Brogdon is the new starting point guard, Lamb will open the campaign as the starting shooting guard in Oladipo's stead and Warren replaces the departed Bojan Bogdanovic at small forward. Incumbents Domantas Sabonis and Myles Turner have the makings of a potent frontcourt tandem.

Outside of Oladipo, the Pacers will come into the regular-season opener at full health.

The Pacers won the 2018-19 season series by a 3-1 margin.

The Cleveland Cavaliers take on the Orlando Magic at Amway Center on Wednesday evening in the regular-season opener for both clubs.

The Cavaliers (0-0) finished their first season following LeBron James' latest departure with a forgettable 19-63 record. Despite the lost season, they'll enter the new campaign with four-fifths of the same starting five, with Brandon Knight the one new addition to the first unit at shooting guard. Holdovers Collin Sexton, Cedi Osman, Kevin Love and Tristan Thompson man the other four spots, while promising rookie Darius Garland opens the season slotting in behind Sexton at point guard.

The Cavaliers will list Matthew Dellavedova (thumb) as questionable for Wednesday's game, while John Henson (groin) will be listed as doubtful. Both Ante Zizic (foot) and first-round pick Dylan Windler (lower leg) will be out for the next several weeks.

The Magic (0-0) parlayed a 42-40 finish last season into the seventh seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs. Orlando was ultimately ousted by the Toronto Raptors, 4-1, in the first round of the postseason. The team returns the same starting five to open this season. Many of the same bench players remain as well, although veteran Al-Farouq Aminu was added to offer frontcourt depth, rebounding and occasional three-point shooting. The Magic will also hope to see Markelle Fultz resurrect his career as a member of the backcourt rotation after his first two pro seasons were derailed by shoulder issues.

The Magic come into Wednesday's game without any injuries to report.

The Magic won the 2018-19 three-game series between the teams by a 2-1 margin.

The Chicago Bulls take on the Charlotte Hornets at Spectrum Center on Wednesday evening in the regular-season opener for both teams.

The Bulls (0-0) ended the 2018-19 season with a 22-60 record. Chicago finished with a 13-28 road mark and counted Tomas Satoransky and Thaddeus Young as its two major veteran offseason additions. The Bulls will also hope for a full season from 2018 first-round pick Wendell Carter, Jr., who played only 44 games in his rookie campaign. Carter comes in nursing a sprained thumb, although he's expected to play against Charlotte. Zach LaVine should once again serve as the linchpin of the offense after averaging 23.7 points, 4.7 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 1.0 steal across 63 games last season.

The Bulls will list Shaquille Harrison (hamstring) as questionable for Wednesday's game, while Chandler Hutchison has been declared out with the same injury. Carter (thumb) will be listed as probable.

The Hornets (0-0) narrowly missed the postseason last year with a 39-43 record and then saw franchise stalwart Kemba Walker depart for the Boston Celtics over the offseason. Charlotte replaces him with former Celtic Terry Rozier, who'll have a chance to open a season as the full-time starter for the first time in his career. This past June's first-round pick, P.J. Washington, is expected to see meaningful minutes at power forward, while Dwayne Bacon will get first crack at replacing the departed Jeremy Lamb at shooting guard. Given that Miles Bridges is also expected to man the top job at small forward, Cody Zeller will be the one holdover starter from the start of last season.

The Hornets come into Wednesday's opener with a clean bill of health.

The Hornets won the 2018-19 three-game season series between the teams by a 2-1 margin.

The Miami Heat play host to the Memphis Grizzlies at American Airlines Arena on Wednesday.

The Grizzlies have been one of the consummate franchises in basketball over the last two decades but the rebuild is in full swing now. The grit-and-grind days with Mike Conley, Marc Gasol and Zach Randolph are a thing of the past and it's a whole new roster now. Players like Ja Morant, Jaren Jackson Jr and Jonas Valanciunas are running the show now, as it should be a whole new team. Slowing down the pace has become common for this team in the past but that would be a silly thing to do with young studs like Morant and Jackson wanting to run. That top rookie out of Murray State is the prize of this franchise and it will be in Morant's hands to get this team out of the dumps in the coming years. While this is expected to be a bad season in terms of wins and losses, look for this to be a fun team to watch for the first time in a while.

The Heat have made some major changes of their own. Now that Dwayne Wade has retired, this is a whole new team. He was the face of this franchise for nearly 20 years and it's time for someone else to take on that role. Acquiring Jimmy Butler was the best way to fill that void, as he should be the leader of this young team. The player that many people are looking forward to seeing is Bam Adebayo. The young big man has always been capped because of Hassan Whiteside but with Whiteside now playing in Portland, it's time for Adebayo to thrive. This guy is one of the most athletic bigs in the game and he could very well develop into an All-Star if everything goes as planned. They've also chosen to go young, starting Justise Winslow over Goran Dragic at the point guard position. That makes Dragic a sneaky pick for Sixth Man of the Year and this is still one of the deepest teams in the NBA.

Miami has dominated this series over recent years, winning their last four games over Memphis.

The Brooklyn Nets play host to the Minnesota Timberwolves at Barclay's Center on Wednesday.

The Timberwolves have been a raving disappointment for years now and one has to wonder just where this franchise is headed. While Karl-Anthony Towns has developed into a full-on superstar, the rest of the roster is lacking. Players like Andrew Wiggins and Jeff Teague have been disappointing in their time with the Wolves and another bad year could force some big moves. Adding Robert Covington at last year's trade deadline may have been the final piece to the puzzle, as he's one of the most underrated wings in the league. That's a position that Minnesota has been lacking and he could add a much needed defensive presence to this team. In any case, this team needs to show signs of improvement or it may all get blown up sooner rather than later.

The Nets made some huge splashes in the offseason and there's more hype around this team than ever before. Signing Kyrie Irving would have been impressive enough but the Nets one-upped that by adding Kevin Durant too. That forms one of the most dangerous duos in the league and it will be fun to watch these guys work for the coming years. The only disappointing thing about this is the fact that Durant is expected to miss almost the entirety of the 2019-20 season after tearing his Achilles in the NBA Finals. That means this season is about developing the role players around these two and to build for the 2020-21 season. One interesting battle among this team is the center position, with DeAndre Jordan and Jarrett Allen both battling for that starting role. No matter who it is, this makes for one of the best rim protecting groups in the league.

Minnesota swept their two-game season series over Brooklyn last season.

The Philadelphia 76ers play host to the Boston Celtics at Wells Fargo Center on Wednesday.

The Celtics biggest problem last season was trying to manage all the personalities in the locker room. They simply had too many players for not enough minutes and it drove players batty. That's why they parted ways with Kyrie Irving, Al Horford and Terry Rozier. They replaced those guys with Kemba Walker and Enes Kanter, as it should be fascinating to see what Walker does for this club. Getting rid of all of those players has opened up the door for other players too. Gordon Hayward and Jaylen Brown both looked lost last season at times in their limited roles and they should be way more comfortable this season in play-making roles. There's still a ton of talent on this roster but it remains to be seen how they gel with all of these moves and new locker room dynamic.

The Sixers look like one of the powerhouses of the league. They have improved in three-straight years now and they very well could be in for a franchise-best season. The starting-five is simply absurd, sending out Ben Simmons, Josh Richardson, Tobias Harris, Al Horford and Joel Embiid. Those are all five potential All-Stars and it says a lot about how much this team has grown. The only real weakness on this team is their depth. If one or two of these guys gets injured, this team could get tested by their decision making. Going all-in on your starting-five works great if everyone stays healthy but it spells disaster if you start having a training room full of players. With that said, this unit forms one of the best defensive units in the league and it will be fun to watch these guys work this season. The guy to watch here is Embiid, as he averaged close to 30 points and 15 rebounds per game in four meetings against Boston last year.

The Dallas Mavericks play host to the Washington Wizards at American Airlines Center on Wednesday.

The Wizards could be in for a long season. This team was built around John Wall and Bradley Beal but half of that core is constantly injured. That happens to be Wall, as he tore his Achilles while nursing a foot injury last season. That has him missing the entirety of the 2019-20 season and it's going to be an uphill battle for this club with him off the floor. The sad part about it is the fact that they don't have much around Beal. In fact, many people don't even know who will start at small forward with Otto Porter being sent to Chicago last season. It could be the newly acquired Davis Bertans but that says a lot about the lack of depth on this team. It's going to be Beal, Beal and more Beal running the offense. That's no the worst thing though, as he had a career year last season and could be in for another monster campaign here.

The Mavericks have been rebuilding for a few years now but this could be the first time that we see some return. Luka Doncic is looking like the steal of last year's draft and it's scary that they acquired Kristaps Porzingis to pair up with him. This makes for one of the most dynamic duos in the league and it will be exciting to see how they play with one another. If the preseason is any indicator, these two will be running the offense. In fact, both guys averaged about a shot per minute and combined for a usage rate of 60 percent. That's obviously absurd and it's going to be in these two hands to bring this franchise out of the dumps.

Despite splitting the two-game set last season, Dallas has dominated Washington over recent years. In fact, the Mavericks have won 16 of their last 18 games over the Wizards dating back a decade.

The San Antonio Spurs play host to the New York Knicks at AT&T Center on Wednesday evening.

The Spurs (0-0) open their 2019-20 season at home, where they were 32-9 last season. DeMar DeRozan led the Spurs with an average of 21.2 points, 6.2 assists and 6.0 rebounds per game last season. LaMarcus Aldridge also put in major work to help carry the Spurs into the playoffs last season, as he averaged 21.3 points and 9.2 rebounds per game. The Spurs were relatively quiet in the offseason but added some solid depth with Trey Lyles and DeMarre Carroll. The Spurs also got a boost to their roster by having DeJounte Murray back healthy. Murray missed the entire last season with a knee injury but looked good in the preseason exhibitions.

Meanwhile, the Knicks (0-0) have almost an entirely new look after picking up multiple players during the offseason. The Knicks added Marcus Morris, Bobby Portis and Julius Randle to give them substantial size and skill inside. They have depth at the point as Frank Ntilikina, Elfrid Payton and Dennis Smith Jr. will likely be sharing minutes. They also have the number-three draft pick from the 2019 draft, R.J Barrett. Barrett looked solid in preseason and could be ready to make an impact at the wing. The Knicks have some scoring punch with Alonzo Trier, who is returning after a solid rookie season, and Wayne Ellington, who has proven he can light it up from deep. The Knicks were 8-33 on the road last season and have their work cut out for them in their season opener against a strong home team like the Spurs.

The Utah Jazz play host to the Oklahoma City Thunder, at Vivint Smart Home Arena on Wednesday evening.

The Thunder underwent an overhaul in the offseason as Chris Paul now runs the point, alongside Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Danilo Gallinari at small forward. Nerlens Noel, Steven Adams and Terrence Ferguson are all back, while Andre Roberson is still working on returning to full strength. The Thunder also retain the services of Dennis Schroder, who averaged 15.5 points, 4.1 assists and 3.6 rebounds in 29 minutes per game for them last season. The Thunder picked up Mike Muscala in the summer, who adds some shooting quality to their rotation of bigs. There is also an opportunity for third-year player Abdel Nader to potentially carve out a role. Last season Nader posted increases in scoring, rebounds and field-goal percentage compared to his rookie season, despite playing nearly the same amount of minutes.

Meanwhile, the Jazz (0-0) underwent some major changes of their own, as their roster now includes Mike Conley, Bojan Bogdanovic, Emmanuel Mudiay and Ed Davis. The core of Donovan Mitchell, Joe Ingles and Rudy Gobert remains, while Ricky Rubio and Derrick Favors have gone separate ways. Royce O'Neale, who saw his role expand later in the 2018-19 season and playoffs, has a chance to continue his progression and solidify his place in the lineup. Dante Exum (knee) is expected to miss at least one contest. Exum, who has had injury trouble throughout his young career, has been dealing with the injury since training camp.

The Phoenix Suns play host to the Sacramento Kings, at Talking Stick Resort Arena on Wednesday evening.

The Suns (0-0) gained some direction in the offseason by adding floor maestro Ricky Rubio to run the point. They also picked up Aron Baynes and Frank Kaminsky, giving them some a couple of diverse skill sets up front to back up Deandre Ayton. Kelly Oubre Jr. was a late-season acquisition last season and made an instant impact. He will surely add a lot to the team playing together from the jump. The Suns picked up Dario Saric in the offseason, giving them a fantastic option at power forward, as he can score and make plays with confidence. Tyler Johnson has settled into the sixth-man role for the Suns, giving them some scoring relief off the bench. Finally, the Suns have their two up-and-coming stars in Deandre Ayton and Devin Booker, who together have no limits to what they can help their team accomplish.

Meanwhile, the Kings (0-0) have been shaping their new core for a couple of years and are taking shape as a formidable foe for any opponent. With Buddy Hield, De'Aaron Fox and Marvin Bagley III, the Kings have a young core that could be very dangerous. They also have Harrison Barnes, who is not the flashiest player, but can certainly get the job done as a solid small forward. The Kings starting center will be Dewayne Dedmon, who averaged 11 points, seven rebounds and one block per game last season with the Hawks. The Kings have a reliable sixth man with Bogdan Bogdanovic, who has shown that he can go off in scoring bursts and also facilitate the offense. They also added to their bench by picking up Cory Joseph and Trevor Ariza, two players that can bring knowledge and experience to their young group.

The Portland Trail Blazers play host to the Denver Nuggets, at Moda Center on Wednesday evening.

The Trail Blazers (0-0) are back after an emotional playoff run in 2019, where they experienced the major high of a series-winning shot and the devastating low of heading home empty-handed. However, their relentless backcourt duo of Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum earned more experience and another chip on their shoulder to help give them the edge in what will be a very competitive season. The Blazers made some moves in the offseason and bolstered their frontcourt by adding Hassan Whiteside and Paul Gasol. They also picked up Mario Hezonja and Kent Bazemore, for some reliable depth. After arriving mid way through last season Rodney Hood will have a chance to spend a full season with the team and settle into his role with the team. Jusuf Nurkic (leg) remains in the process of rehab.

Meanwhile, after a less-than impressive playoff run, the Nuggets (0-0) stayed quiet in the offseason. Despite not making any moves, the Nuggets managed to add to their talent by drafting Bol Bol, and also by remaining patient with Michael Porter Jr. as he reached full strength. Porter Jr. is set to take action for the first time since being drafted and could offer Denver another strong wing player. Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray led the way for the team in 2018-19, while Will Barton, Gary Harris and Paul Millsap all played solid in support. Malik Beasley and Monte Morris both came up big off the bench at times during the 2018-19 season and playoffs, and if they can take another step, will give the Nuggets a huge advantage.