Detroit ― 11-year-old Kenden Taylor of Toledo summed up in one word what a Detroit Pistons playoff game win on Sunday would mean.
Fans showed up early to hang out outside of Little Caesars Arena on Sunday afternoon despite the cold temperatures just to have somewhere to be excited ahead of Game 1 of the first round of the NBA playoffs against the Orlando Magic.
They were hoping to witness the Pistons' first home playoff victory since the team won Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Finals, 94-75 over the Boston Celtics, on May 26, 2008. The Pistons went on to lose the Boston series.
The team has since lost three opening-round playoff series without a victory (Cleveland Cavaliers 2009, Cleveland Cavaliers 2016 and Milwaukee Bucks 2019), while winning two games on the road against the New York Knicks last season before losing the series 4-2 without a home victory.
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It's a frustrating streak, but not one that's kept die-hard fans from having faith in the team's chance this year.
"I know we're going to win," said Indigo Zuri of Detroit. Zuri was first in line at the Comerica entrance to the arena, despite still holding onto a bit of the grief over last year's loss to the Knicks.
"I was here last year," Zuri said. "I was so sad, I cried."
The mother-daughter team of Susan Jenkin and Morgan Riddle were so confident the game would be good, they flew in from the Seattle area to see it.
Jenkin used to live in Michigan, she said, in Ypsilanti and the Upper Peninsula. Naturally, her daughter grew up a Pistons fan, despite never living here.
They had seen the team on the road this year in Portland, but had to make the trip to Detroit for the playoffs.
"I see us easily going to the Eastern Conference Finals," she said.
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Being the No. 1 seed, after all, comes with high expectations.
"I think it puts pressure on us, but we do really well when we have pressure on us," Riddle said.
The key to victory, her mother said — "determination."
Several fans were succinct in their keys to the game, reflecting a just-get-it-done attitude.
John Talos of Chesterfield said Pistons center Jalen Duren needed to have a good game for the team to win.
Talos brought his 7-year-old son, John, to the game, expecting he might "be going in a little late" to school in the morning, but it would be worth it.
"Just seemed like an opportunity to take the little guy to his first playoff game," Talos said.