Alvin Gentry was beaming after his Clippers stole one from the Pistons on Sunday.
  "I am not going to lie," he said. "When they asked me if this was a big win, I said, 'Hell, yes, it is."
  Not for the reasons that you think, though.
  Yes, he was unceremoniously fired by the Pistons in March of 2000. Yes, he is now 3-0 against his former team.
  But the reason he was so pumped after the victory had nothing to do with vengeance.
  "That was one of our better victories because it came against a real quality team in the Pistons," he said.
  He actually doesn't understand why people think that playing the Pistons is some kind of grudge match for him.
  "If that was the case, then everybody in the NBA would be mad at somebody," said Gentry, who has coached the Los Angeles Clippers to their best start since 1992-1993. "Everybody in this league has been fired. It's part of being in the NBA."