Detroit Pistons opened their season falling a point short to the defending Eastern Conference champion Miami Heat 103-102.
But despite the result, it felt like the beginning of what fans have been waiting for: Seeing a rebuilding team that is young but not inept. Too often in the past few seasons, Detroit wore both hats. And based on some of those results, it at times felt as if the team did so proudly. On Wednesday, though, the Pistons looked capable. They shared the floor with the hottest team in the NBA from April to June and belonged.
However, they defeated the Chicago Bulls in the second play-in tournament game and got into the NBA playoffs as the eighth seed in the east.   
New York Knicks (fifth seed) and Boston Celtics (second seed) in the first three rounds. 
The Heat made the NBA Finals for the second time in four seasons but lost to the Denver Nuggets (in five games). 
Detroit isn’t a good team yet. But as someone who has watched every second of this “restoration” since it started in 2020, this night, this game, this team, felt like the start of something worth getting behind. Maybe I’ll eat my words on Friday night in Charlotte, but I don’t think I will. This feels like the moment Pistons fans have been waiting for. Finally, Detroit is not a team that has the potential to be on the rise, but a team that looks primed to actually begin its ascension.
Remember Cade Cunningham? The No. 1 pick in 2021 who has played less than 82 regular-season games because of various injuries, the most recent being a shin injury that forced him to get surgery and miss 70 games last season? Well, he sent a reminder to the basketball world with a 30-point, nine-assist performance Wednesday. Oh, and he did that without attempting a free throw.
The Heat made the NBA Finals for the second time in four seasons but lost to the Denver Nuggets (in five games). 
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