The Detroit Pistons fell flat in Game 7 on Sunday night, getting embarrassed at home by the Cleveland Cavaliers 125-94. The top seed in the East is going home, and Ausar Thompson is not in the mood to forget any of it.
Speaking after the loss, Thompson told reporters that the series felt deeply personal to him. “I mean, that series, that felt personal,” Thompson said. He added a simple instruction to himself and his teammates. “Let it hurt, let it sting, and just get better.”
That is the right energy from a 23-year-old wing who already plays harder than almost anyone on Detroit’s roster. The Pistons earned the No. 1 seed in the East for a reason this year. They also turned that seed into one of the worst collapses we have seen from a top seed in recent memory.
Thompson’s frustration tracks with how chippy the series got. Cleveland kept poking at Detroit’s young core, and Detroit kept poking back. By Game 7, the personal feeling was mutual.
Here is the issue for Detroit. Ausar Thompson can promise revenge all he wants, but the Pistons have a bigger problem than missed shots or rough rotations. Cade Cunningham vanished in the second half of Game 7. The bench produced nothing. The crowd at Little Caesars Arena turned on the team before the fourth quarter even started.
You can stomach a Game 7 loss when you get punched out by the better team. You cannot stomach getting blown out by 31 at home as the top seed. That is the kind of loss that follows a roster around all summer.
Thompson, to his credit, was one of the few Pistons who actually showed up in this series. His defensive versatility was the reason Detroit pushed Cleveland to a Game 7 in the first place. He did everything you could ask from a young two-way player.
The bigger question is whether the Pistons learn anything from this. Detroit was supposed to be the team building toward a long playoff run. Instead, they collected a No. 1 seed, then folded like they had never been here before. They had not. That should be the lesson, not an excuse.
Thompson’s message about letting the loss hurt is exactly what this team needs to internalize. The worst thing the Pistons can do this summer is convince themselves they were close. They were not close. They were exposed.
If Ausar Thompson wants this to feel personal next season, he is going to need help. Cunningham has to grow up. The front office has to actually swing a real trade instead of nibbling at the edges. The veterans have to deliver in May, not just in February.
The Pistons are talented. They are also very young, and Game 7 was a brutal reminder that young teams do not just stumble into the conference finals because the bracket opens up for them. They earn it, or they get sent home holding their pride in pieces.
Detroit got sent home. Ausar Thompson is right to be furious about it.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
