NBA
The Detroit Pistons Are Taking A Bus To Their Next Game

The Detroit Pistons began a five game, nine day road trip on Monday. And thanks to weather and scheduling issues, they’ll be staying in Birmingham, Alabama and taking a bus to their game in Atlanta on Wednesday.
The Pistons Will Take A Bus To Atlanta For Wednesday’s Game
The original plan was for the Rockets to stay in Houston after Monday’s game against the Rockets. Then they were to fly to Atlanta during their day off on Tuesday, and begin preparation for their game against the Hawks on Wednesday. It appeared like a seamless enough plan, until a rare snow an ice storm began to threaten the entire southern portion of the United States.
A winter storm named “Enzo” is scheduled to develop on Monday night, expecting to bring snow and ice to Texas and Louisiana before stretching across more of the south on Tuesday. The National Weather Service has posted winter storm alerts for cities like Houston, New Orleans, and Tallahassee, as traveling is expected to be hazardous throughout the region.
The Pistons are riding the bus to their next game because of the Natty pic.twitter.com/xxhdwx2jwv
— Josh Wilson (@J_WilsonSports) January 20, 2025
The Pistons decided to get a jump on things. They wanted to get out of Houston immediately after their game against the Rockets on Monday, and had hoped to stay in Atlanta for an extra night while the storm passed. But as luck would have it, there were no available hotel rooms in the entire Atlanta metro area, thanks to the College Football National Championship being played at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
So instead, the Pistons and their staff will fly to Birmingham, Alabama instead. In order to get to their game on Wednesday, they’ll take a bus from there to Atlanta.
Birmingham To Atlanta Is About 150 Miles
Birmingham is about 150 miles west of Atlanta, and is apparently the closest metro area that had the available hotel space to house the Detroit basketball team. It is unclear exactly how the timing of the trip will work, or what happens if the roads are heavily affected by the winter storm. When the news was reported by the Rockets’ regional sports network and play-by-play announcer Craig Ackerman, he laid out the rough plans of the Pistons’ journey, but capped his statement off with “if the roads are alright.”
The change in travel comes less than two weeks removed from the NBA rescheduling games due to the wildfires in Los Angeles.
The Pistons were able to take down the Rockets on Monday afternoon, and are now 22-21 after starting off the season with a 9-15 record. They are currently in 9th place in the Eastern Conference, but are just a half-game back of the Hawks, who sit in the 6th seed.