For a sense of the animosity between those teams, here is a quote from Danny Ainge found in Michael Wilbon’s Game 6 story from The Washington Post in June 1988:“Can I wish them good luck?” Ainge said. It’s just hard for me to root for them, that’s all. I don’t like the Detroit Pistons. We put up a good effort and got beat by a better team. They’ve proven they’re the better team.

Source: New York Times April 29, 2020 15:22 UTC