VIDEO: Josh Smith booed in return to Detroit

It's a night for booing returning players, it seems.

Moments before Kevin Love was unceremoniously received in his return to Minnesota as a member of the Cleveland Cavaliers, the vitriol was out in the Motor City.

Playing in his first game back since the Detroit Pistons waived him on Dec. 22, Josh Smith was greeted unkindly as he checked in for the Houston Rockets on Saturday.

Smith was open earlier in the weekend about how he felt unfairly criticized during his time with the Pistons, saying he understood that the team struggled but feeling like he was made out to be a bad guy, a misrepresentation. 

It doesn't help matters that the Pistons have turned things around since cutting him, going 12-7 after a 5-23 start, while the Rockets have gone 13-7 since signing him after a 20-7 start. In 20 games with the Rockets, Smith is averaging 10.9 points, 5.4 rebounds and 2.2 assists, numbers down from his Detroit production but ones coming in fewer minutes with roughly equivalent efficiency.