In truth, this should have been one of those forgettable games in late February between a hump of an Eastern Conference team (the Pistons) and your favourite team (the Raptors). Detroit can play Toronto tough, and has at times — for example, in a 102-101 Raps’ loss, uh, last season — but mostly the games are lost to the sands of time.
Except now the Pistons are trying something. They’re currently 28-31, in ninth place, and coming off two losses in a row (and five of their last six), which is not great considering that “something” was trading a chunk of the team for Blake Griffin and trying to fight their way into the playoffs.