Penellape Saikowski would like a word with her fellow Detroit Pistons fans.
“I was watching them leave,” the 10-year-old from Roseville said, “And I was like, ‘How dare you leave when your team is still playing?'”
Penellape, like many a Pistons fan, came into Game 7 of the second round of the NBA playoffs “really super excited.”
That faded quickly. The Cavs pummeled the Pistons, hitting them hard early and never relenting before a final score of 125-94. Little Caesars Arena emptied, at least of many Detroit fans, halfway through the fourth quarter, much to Penellape’s dismay.
“Sad,” she said when asked how she was feeling after the game.
Her dad, Kevin Saikowski, was a little more zen.
“It was an experience,” Saikowski said. “It was a ride.”
He emphasized enjoying “the journey before the destination.” His daughter wasn’t having it.
Penellape was hardly alone in her disappointment. The Pistons, after all, were the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference, winning 60 games. They pushed their way out of the first round for the first time since 2008, but the journey ended in the second round.
“It’s a deflating balloon,” said Brad Sommer of Lake Orion.
Cheryl Ramsden of Livonia called Sunday’s matchup “the worst game we had all season.”
“They just didn’t show up tonight,” she said. “Didn’t expect that.”
Her daughter-in-law Nicole Ramsden of Howell said the “final score was embarrassing.”
“We get there — we just can’t complete it,” she said of the team’s playoff ambitions.
Cheryl Ramsden said she was certain they’d be playing the New York Knicks in the Eastern Conference Finals. Instead, it will be the Cavs against the Knicks.
“Go Knicks, that’s all I gotta say,” Nicole Ramsden said.
Other fans were just happy to have enjoyed the ride with their team.
“I’m really proud of this season,” said Claire Carroll of Royal Oak.
The team has “just been really fun to watch,” especially after the disappointments of the last several years.
“Tough loss but proud of this team,” she said, adding as Cavs fans walked by cheering, “at least we don’t live in Ohio.”
Autumn Leake, a former Flint resident who now lives in Las Vegas, took the red-eye from Nevada to Detroit arriving at 8 a.m. Sunday to come to her first Pistons game of the year.
It was even her birthday. She was a little bit sad, she noted, but shook off her team’s loss quickly.
“You know what,” she said, “It’s OK because I love them.”
jpignolet@detroitnews.com
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Detroit Pistons fans react to Game 7 ouster from playoffs: ‘Deflating’
