If that was the last home opener at The Palace, the Pistons took it out in style. In fact, like no Pistons home opener there – or anywhere else, for that matter. The 108-92 win, in which the Pistons led by 35 in the third quarter, bested the most lopsided previous home-opening win – 23 points in both 1967 when home was Cobo Arena and 1950 when home was Fort Wayne, Ind.
But this one had its roots in another country – in Canada, where the Pistons were thoroughly disappointed in themselves for their season-opening loss at Toronto on Wednesday.
“All of us, really, were a little discouraged, a little upset, and it was a good way to be upset about the way we played,” Tobias Harris said after leading the Pistons with 18 points against his former team. “It was good to come out and get our first win, get the vibes up and know we can play this well. We’ve got to hold ourselves to this standard.”
After getting outrebounded by Toronto, the Pistons beat up Orlando, never so demonstrably as the start of the second quarter when the game was conclusively won. The Pistons grabbed the first 10 rebounds of the quarter as part of a 20-2 run. They outscored Orlando 30-9 in the second to lead 54-31 at halftime.
“Couldn’t have been much better,” Stan Van Gundy said.
The Pistons began to flex their muscles late last season at The Palace, re-establishing a slice of the overwhelming home-court advantage it provided for them through the Goin’ to Work Pistons era that saw the most recent of the three NBA championship banners won at the building in its 29 years.
Before the game, Pistons owner Tom Gores revealed that negotiations are “getting close” to finalized to move the Pistons to the new downtown Little Caesars Arena. If it happens, it’s likely there won’t be a 30th Pistons season at The Palace. But the 19,000-plus who showed up to witness the opener energized the place with the same feel-good vibe that marked the stretch drive last spring and saw the Pistons return to the NBA postseason for the first time since 2009.
“We had to change our attitude, had to change our mindset,” said Marcus Morris, who scored 10 of his 17 points during the second-quarter surge that overpowered Orlando. “We give a lot of credit to the crowd. Came with a lot of energy. Place was really good today.”
“It’s always good being here for the home opener and getting a win,” said Andre Drummond, who grabbed 11 of his 20 rebounds – collected in just 28 minutes – in the dominant second quarter. “We looked good today. Our defense looked great, offensively we moved the ball around and we were having fun.”
Beyond the return of responsible defense and a physical presence, the most encouraging element of the win had to be the play of point guards Ish Smith and Beno Udrih, who combined for 29 points and 13 assists with only two turnovers while making 14 of 23 shots. Udrih, picked up on waivers from Miami just four days earlier, had 13 points and five assists with no turnovers in his 19-plus minutes.
“The thing I was impressed with tonight with him, I thought he really worked hard defensively,” Van Gundy said of the 13-year veteran. “That’s never really been something you’ve heard a lot about him, but he’s really trying to buy in and get the job done defensively. So that’s probably where I was the happiest with him. The offensive stuff, I know he can do all that. I was really happy to see his defensive effort tonight.”
Make that up and down the roster. The Pistons held Orlando to 51 points through three quarters and under 30 percent shooting over that time. The fourth quarter got a little frantic, as blowouts are apt to get, and Van Gundy emptied his bench, satisfying the crowd that began chanting for 7-foot-3 Boban Marjanovic as the lead crept toward 30 in the third quarter.
They got to see him for the final 2:28, along with No. 1 pick Henry Ellenson. Each made his first shot, giving the home crowd more chances to cheer. If it’s the last time they get to do it to open a season at The Palace, they left with a slew of good memories from the place the Pistons have had the best moments of their 59 years since relocating from Fort Wayne.