How are Detroit Pistons fans feeling, with their team — the No. 1 seed in the conference — down 3-1 and facing elimination against the Orlando Magic on their home court Wednesday night?
It’s a touchy subject.
“We don’t want to talk about that,” said Sandy Maizi of West Bloomfield.
His brother-in-law, Dominic Dallo, summed it up with a phrase his son James, 10, coined when he was in preschool: “Ner-cited.” Nervous… but also excited, he explained.
Certainly, it wasn’t the position fans expected to be in by Game 5. To advance, the Pistons must now win three games straight, including at least one in Orlando. But many were still keeping the faith ahead of tip-off.
“We’ll win tonight,” said Brandon VanBeekom of Traverse City. “Just take it one game at a time.”
He and his wife, Randi, took their kids Liam, 8, and Oliver, 11, out of school early Wednesday to drive down to Detroit for the game. The kids thought they were leaving school early for a dentist appointment.
“I figured it out,” Oliver said. His teacher giving him two days’ worth of homework on his way out the door for his “dentist appointment” was a big clue. His parents, both in the car decked in Pistons gear, was the other.
It was the first playoff game for both boys.
It was also the first playoff game for first cousins James Dallo and Noah Maizi.
Their dads also conspired during the school day to bring them to the game, noticing online during the day that tickets were cheaper than some regular-season game seats in the same area. They told their kids as soon as they got home — do your homework, we’re going to the game. They were both pumped. It didn’t bother them a bit the team was down 3-1 in the series.
“I was happy,” Noah said.
“Excited,” James said. “Ready.”
Michael Parks of Grand Rapids brought his 8-year-old grandson Marquell to the game. Marquell said he was excited and ready to see “dunks.”
Parks, on the other hand, was, in a word, “worried.”
His friend Arica Deans, however, said she was feeling “great.”
“We’re going to do this,” she said.
Dearborn residents and friends Tristan Crandall and Christian Alvarado had technical feedback for the team, expecting to see more production from the bench, and more support for Cade Cunningham.
But they both had to admit, they were nervous.
“I’ll always have belief in us, no matter what,” Crandall said.
They both noted they had seen the team through its hardest times, and would continue to be there no matter what.
“We’ve seen the worst,” Alvarado said. “But we always have hope.”
jpignolet@detroitnews.com
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Detroit Pistons fans nervous but excited ahead of Game 5
Reporting by Jennifer Pignolet, The Detroit News / The Detroit News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
