Cleveland Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert did his best to mitigate Detroit’s home-court advantage for Sunday’s Game 7 against the Pistons.
His Cavaliers rewarded him with a blowout Game 7 win to advance to the Eastern Conference finals.
Per WKYC’s Nick Camino, Gilbert chartered 25 buses to transport Cavaliers fans from Cleveland to Detroit to attend Sunday’s decisive game. Fans arrived to load up on buses Sunday afternoon ahead of the 8 p.m. ET tip.
Gilbert had made a similar effort for Game 5 in Detroit.
Per Cleveland.com, Gilbert chartered eight buses to send 400 Cavaliers season-ticket holders to Detroit for Game 5 via an all-inclusive package that featured game tickets, food, entertainment and a pregame party.
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Cavs fans were seated together near the Cleveland bench, and chants of “Let’s go Cavs” were heard in Little Caesars Arena as Cleveland closed out a 117-113 win in overtime.
It’s unclear exactly how many fans attended Sunday’s game on Gilbert’s dime. But if eight buses sent 400 fans, then 25 buses projected to transport at least 1,200-plus fans to Detroit for the game at the 20,000-plus seat arena.
And once they got their, they were easy to spot, thanks to custom “Beat Detroit” T-shirts made for the occasion.
Cavs fans made their mark and their presence felt as their team romped to a 125-94 win.
The reward is a date with the New York Knicks in the Eastern Conference finals. Game 1 is scheduled for Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden (8 p.m. ET, ESPN).
