I have to admit that I was a little emotional after the Detroit Pistons’ game two victory over the Knicks.
It was a long time coming.
The last time the Pistons won a playoff game, Barack Obama was president. Madonna was still on the charts. The world was a different place.
I watched the game in 2008 from a hospital in Taiwan, dragging my IV rack to the small TV room and convincing two angry old ladies to let me change their soap opera to a basketball game at 7:00 in the morning. I was a decade away from meeting my wife and we just celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary. It's been a minute.
Some fans were children the last time the Pistons won a playoff game, and some weren’t even born. Cade Cunningham was six years old.
The Pistons exorcised that demon last night, and even though it was just one win, its importance can’t be overstated.
The Detroit Pistons believe
There is little chance the Pistons win this series if they go down 0-2, especially if they had blown two 8-point leads in the 4th quarter in the process.
Dennis Schroder’s 3-point make with less than a minute to go changed the outlook of this series, and had he not made it, the narrative could be a lot different today.
It would all be about how the Pistons couldn’t handle the moment, how they choked away 4th-quarter leads in two games and how they had no shot to win the series.
This win salvaged the present and put some demons to rest while ending a 15-game losing streak in the playoffs.
The Pistons future just got brighter
The Pistons still have a long way to go to win this series, and it’s not going to be easy against a very good Knicks team that won’t be afraid to play in Detroit.
But just getting that one win is a start and shows that the Pistons can already hang with one of the best teams in the league and beat them on their home floor in the playoffs.
Even if the Pistons ultimately come up short, they have taken an important step in the development of the franchise by winning game two. If they had gotten swept, it would have lingered, especially if it happened in such excruciating fashion.
They’re also doing it on the biggest stage in New York with everyone watching, including future free agents and possible trade targets who may now view Detroit as a place they might want to play.
It’s just one win, but it represents more for a team and city that have been waiting a long time for it, and it can help propel this team to more success now and in the future.