The Detroit Pistons were not supposed to win Thursday night against the Portland Trail Blazers. They were the lesser of the two teams, and had to rely on a pair of two-way players to field nine bodies after a makeover of the roster at the NBA trade deadline. They were on a back to back-on the road, on a West Coast trip.
For a half, the Pistons certainly didn’t play like a team who thought they could win. They were down by as many as 23 points and key players were delivering some of their sloppiest games of the season— and that is saying something.