Dan Gilbert paid for army of Cavs fans to take over Pistons playoff game

Dan Gilbert paid for an army of Cleveland Cavaliers fans to take over Detroit's Little Caesars Arena for Game 2 of the NBA playoffs against the rival Detroit Pistons.

Gilbert, the longtime Cavs owner who has founded several Detroit-based companies and owns much of the real estate in downtown Detroit, sent seven bus loads of Cavs season ticket holders up I-75 North on Thursday, May 7, to wear maroon and white shirts that read "BEAT DETROIT!"

Coworkers Rick Amador, 46, of Lorain, Ohio, and Eric Karr, 24, of Strongsville, Ohio, said they were thankful their trip to the playoffs in Detroit was fully paid for.

“Dan Gilbert fully paid for all of our tickets, paid for the shirts that you see here today," Amador said. "He paid for the swag and he brought us here, fed us. We had a party at The Beacon [in Detroit, owned by Gilbert]. DJ, food, it was phenomenal."

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Gilbert earned a bachelor’s degree from Michigan State and a law degree from Wayne State in downtown Detroit.

“I'm just ready to bring a dub home to Cleveland," Karr said. “It's been a long time coming. We got lucky with LeBron [James] always coming here and now it's time for us to build our own future, and, win our own championship. All of them. Yes, Donovan [Mitchell] has to have his legacy game."

The Pistons on Tuesday night , in the Eastern Conference semifinals.