The Detroit Pistons are stuck in reverse and will attempt to win their first game since Oct. 28 when they face the Boston Celtics on the road Thursday.
The Pistons set an NBA record for futility when they lost to Brooklyn 118-112 Tuesday night. With the loss, Detroit became the first NBA team to lose 27 consecutive games in a single season.
With another defeat, the Pistons would match the record for all-time consecutive losses at 28. The Philadelphia 76ers hold that mark with a miserable run that extended between the 2014-15 and 2015-16 seasons.
Detroit opened the current season with a loss at Miami, but then improved to 2-1 with back-to-back victories, the first on the road against the Charlotte Hornets and at home against the Chicago Bulls. They haven’t won since.
“When you look at records you think of coaches, but I’m sure the players don’t want that attached to the name on the jersey,” Detroit coach Monty Williams said. “Heavy? It’s been heavy for a while. That’s just the nature of this kind of losing streak. … We got to do what we got to do to change it.
“It’s probably the most on me than anybody. The players are playing their hearts out. I got to get them in a position where they don’t feel tight or heavy. It’s where we are. That’s the reality of the situation.”
Detroit’s Cade Cunningham certainly showed the will to win, scoring 41 points in Tuesday’s loss. He made a 3-pointer that gave the Pistons a 97-92 lead early in the fourth quarter, but the Nets responded with a 13-0 run to take control.
The Pistons also received 23 points from Bojan Bogdanovic before he fouled out late in the game.
“There’s nothing positive about this situation we put ourselves in,” Cunningham said. “That’s why we got to dig deep and get ourselves out of it. It weighs on us every day.”
The Nets also beat the Pistons on Saturday. That was Detroit’s 26th straight setback, which matched the 2010-11 Cleveland Cavaliers and the 2013-14 Philadelphia 76ers for most consecutive losses in a single season.
The Celtics enter Thursday’s matchup on a three-game winning streak. Boston has won eight of nine overall and is coming off a four-game road trip that started with an overtime loss to Golden State, then included victories over Sacramento, the Los Angeles Clippers and the Los Angeles Lakers.
“I think as a team we’re really in a groove,” Boston’s Jrue Holiday said. “It was a great road trip that we had. … Wish we could have went 4-0, but we’ve been playing well. We have so much firepower that we’re hard to stop.”
Jayson Tatum leads the Celtics in scoring (26.9) and rebounding (8.5). Each of Boston’s five starters average at least 13.1 points per contest, and the Celtics are 14-0 at home.
“I say it all the time, we have a really, really good team,” Tatum said. “We all just kind of make it easier on each other. (Head coach Joe Mazzulla) says success is going to look different for different guys on every single night.
“We all sacrifice to be a better team, to be a better group. Hopefully it’s going to pay off in the end.”
–Field Level Media