After smoking the Knicks shorthanded for the third time, the Detroit Pistons have nothing left to prove against New York in the regular season.
And since Knicks fans can still hold their first-round playoff series over our heads (seriously, has anyone clung to something longer than Knicks fans to that win?), there really isn’t anything to gloat about, because as long as they are losing, the regular season won’t matter to Knicks fans.
I do find it funny that they haven’t stopped talking about the Pistons all season and parade around as if their team has won anything since Richard Nixon was president. You’d think the Knicks were the team that had won three titles, but yeah, beating New York is our “Superbowl.” Sure.
Knicks fans are probably feeling like Pistons fans did the year before Jordan bounced them in the playoffs. We knew our time was ending, and there was nothing we could do to stop it, so enjoy that first-round win, New York.
There’s no winning against Knicks fans until the Pistons beat them in the playoffs, and that is fair enough, I suppose. They are correct in saying that three dominant blowouts won’t mean squat in the second season, and I agree, which is why it is time to move on.
The Knicks won’t have to endure any more beatdowns from the Pistons’ third-string center, which is nice for them, and as for the Pistons, they have bigger goals than beating the Knicks.
The Pistons’ real tests are coming
It’s clear the Pistons match up well with the Knicks, at least in the regular season, and you can say that about most of the Eastern Conference, as the Pistons have a 27-7 record against them overall.
The real tests right now are out west, and the Pistons will get a chance to prove themselves against the Spurs and Thunder, who they play on Monday and Wednesday of next week, respectively.
The Pistons will then face the new-look Cavs twice in three games and then face the Spurs again, so this gauntlet they are on now will have bigger challenges to overcome than the Knicks.
As much as the fans like to banter online, the Pistons also have bigger goals than beating the Knicks. That may have been a focus coming into the season, which is natural after losing a close playoff series to them, but that goal is accomplished to it’s on to the next and the next after that.
That includes making a deep playoff run, and who knows, maybe the Knicks will get their chance to prove the regular season doesn’t matter, that the Pistons are a fluke, but until then, Detroit won’t be thinking about New York.