AUBURN HILLS, Mich. – The farther north you go in Michigan and the further away from the urban centers’ light pollution, the bigger and brighter the stars glow against the inky night sky. Basketball fans who purchase the Pistons’ partial season-ticket Superstar Plan are going to think The Palace of Auburn Hills got moved to the Arctic Circle, so big and bright are the stars who come as part of the deal.

How’s this for a parade of the NBA’s biggest and brightest: Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Shaquille O’Neal, Dwyane Wade and Yao Ming. That’s not only a worthy world’s All-Star team, it’s the dream starting five of any Madison Avenue advertiser.

But the Superstar Plan’s bench isn’t too shabby, either, sagging with the weight of All-Stars, blossoming stars and first-round draft choices ticketed for future stardom.

“The Superstar Plan is really irresistible if you’re a fan of the NBA and great entertainment,” said John Ciszewski, executive vice president of corporate sales for Palace Sports & Entertainment. “We know there’s a segment of our terrific fan base that can’t commit to a full season for a variety of reasons, so we tailor our partial plans to allow them to soak up as much of the everyday excitement a season generates as possible. This package of games is a really terrific bargain.”

The Superstar Plan gives fans 11 games for the price of 10 with an attractive preseason game thrown in for free at three pricing options – $250, $350 and $400.

Among the highlights is the Nov. 28 matchup with defending Eastern Conference champion Cleveland and King James, who’ll be making his first appearance at The Palace since his 48-point tour de force stole Game 5 and tipped the conference finals to the Cavs. The sting from that loss carried the Pistons into the summer and will linger at least until they get their shot at atonement as the season’s first month winds down.

Christmas comes a little early to The Palace when Yao and Tracy McGrady lead Houston into a Dec. 23 matchup against the Pistons. The Rockets added ex-Piston Mike James at point guard over the summer and brought back Steve Francis, as well, and many believe Houston is the darkhorse candidate to emerge from the crowded Western Conference field.

2007-08 Superstar Plan
	Friday, Nov. 9	LA Clippers
	Friday, Nov. 23	Philadelphia
	Wednesday, Nov. 28	Cleveland
	Sunday, Dec. 9	Charlotte
	Sunday, Dec. 23	Houston
	Tuesday, Jan. 15	Toronto
	Thursday, Jan. 31	LA Lakers
	Friday, Feb. 8	Portland
	Sunday, March 9	Chicago
	Thursday, March 27	Miami
	Tuesday, April 8	New York
* - Denotes preseason contest
Click Here to Purchase a Mini-Plan

Kobe and the Los Angeles Lakers will take some of the chill out of winter when they come to town on Jan. 31. The Pistons swept the season series last season, continuing their dominance of the Lakers that dates to their “five-game sweep” in the 2004 NBA Finals.

One of the cornerstones of those ’04 champions, Ben Wallace, leads his Chicago Bulls into The Palace on March 9 in a game that figures to be critical for playoff positioning in the NBA Central Division. The Bulls took three of four from the Pistons in the regular season before losing in six games to Detroit in the Eastern Conference semifinals, reinvigorating a rivalry that dates to the Pistons’ Dave Bing era and peaked during the Bad Boys-Michael Jordan heyday.

Miami will be kicking it into playoff gear when the Heat bring Shaq and Wade to town on March 27 – and they’re hoping that newly signed Penny Hardaway can recapture his own superstar magic to give them a potent third option for the 2006 NBA champions.

The Clippers open the Superstar Plan with an early-season Nov. 9 visit to The Palace. Though they’ll be coping with the loss of their own superstar – Elton Brand is out until at least mid-season after rupturing an Achilles tendon – the Clippers think rookie Al Thornton, a player who highly intrigued the Pistons but who went one spot before they grabbed Rodney Stuckey, can help carry the load until Brand returns.

Philadelphia, rebuilding around budding star Andre Igoudala, visits on Nov. 23. The 76ers had two first-round draft choices – Thaddeus Young, another player high on the Pistons’ radar screen, and 7-footer Jason Smith, who might have been Detroit’s choice had Stuckey not been available.

Ex-Michigan State star Jason Richardson, who has emerged as one of the NBA’s premier scorers, switched coasts on draft night and will lead the recast Charlotte Bobcats into The Palace on Dec. 9. With Emeka Okafor coming on as one of the league’s most disruptive forces around the rim, re-signed Gerald Wallace playing his way into All-Star status and Raymond Felton rounding into a take-charge point guard, the Bobcats enter the season seriously thinking playoffs for the first time in the franchise’s brief history.

Chris Bosh, a fixture on Team USA basketball, and Rookie of the Year runner-up Andrea Bargnani, are the headliners when Toronto visits on Jan. 15. The Raptors, who picked up Carlos Delfino from the Pistons over the summer, are defending Atlantic Division champions and are bracing for a challenge from the vastly upgraded Boston Celtics for the season ahead.

Two teams who engaged in a big off-season trade – Portland and New York – round out the Superstar Plan, the Trail Blazers visiting on Feb. 8 and the Knicks on April 8. Portland sent Zach Randolph to New York on draft night, clearing a spot in a rebuilt frontcourt for No. 1 pick Greg Oden of Ohio State. The Knicks, meanwhile, now feature the NBA’s most lethal 1-2 inside scoring tandem in Randolph and Eddy Curry.

The preseason game that comes as part of the Superstar Plan features the Washington Wizards on Oct. 24. The explosive scoring trio of Gilbert Arenas, Antawn Jamison and Caron Butler got even more dangerous on draft night when the Wizards plucked Southern Cal’s dynamic Nick Young one spot after the Pistons selected Stuckey.