"Neither the fans nor the Pistons will have to wait long for a rematch with the world champion Boston Celtics.

The Pistons will host the Celtics in the sixth game of the season, Sunday, Nov. 9. That's just one of several plusses on the 2008-2009 schedule released by the NBA on Wednesday.

There are only 16 sets of back-to-back games, the fewest since the 2000-2001 season. The Pistons will also be home with no games scheduled for both the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays. Thanksgiving, in fact, is surrounded by a four-game home stand, the longest of the season.

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The Pistons only holiday action will be on New Year's Eve, a 3 p.m. game at The Palace against New Jersey.

The bad news: The Pistons will play eight of their first 12 and six of the last nine games on the road.

In another odd twist, the Pistons' longest road trip of the season won't take them to the West Coast. They will embark on an eight-day, five-city trip from Feb. 22 through March 1 with stops in Cleveland, Miami, New Orleans, Orlando and Boston.

The Pistons will be on national television 15 times this season. Three of those will be on ABC -- vs. Cleveland Feb. 1, at Boston March 1 and vs. Miami on March 22. ESPN will feature the Pistons in eight national games -- at the Lakers Nov. 14, vs. Dallas Jan. 23, vs. Houston Jan. 25, vs. Boston Jan. 30, vs. Phoenix Feb. 8, at Cleveland Feb. 22, at Houston March 18, and at Philadelphia April 4.

The Pistons will be on TNT four times, at Boston Nov. 20, at Memphis Jan. 19, vs. San Antonio Feb. 19, and at Chicago March 24."