The Detroit Pistons will try to halt their 23-game losing streak on Monday when they visit the Atlanta Hawks, a club that has lost six of its past seven.
The Pistons were hammered by the Milwaukee Bucks 146-114 on Saturday and have not won a game since Oct. 28, against Chicago in the third game of the season.
The Hawks were beaten 127-119 by Cleveland on Saturday to complete a three-game road trip, one night after ending their five-game losing streak in Toronto.
This will be the second of three meetings between the teams. Atlanta won 125-120 on Nov. 14 in Detroit. In that game, the Hawks’ Dejounte Murray became the third player in franchise history to have 30-plus points, 10-plus assists, five-plus rebounds and three-plus steals in a game. Trae Young has done it twice.
“We can’t afford to start games without the grit and toughness that we display at times,” said Detroit coach Monty Williams after Milwaukee had a 24-point first-quarter lead. “We just haven’t been consistent with it.”
Detroit is trying to avoid reaching the league record for longest losing streak within the same season at 26 games. That dubious distinction is jointly held by the 2010-11 Cleveland Cavaliers and 2013-14 Philadelphia 76ers. The 76ers had a 28-game losing streak that carried over from the 2014-15 season into the 2015-16 season.
“As we go through this, there’s a deep pain that comes from this,” Williams said. “You typically don’t get that until you get into the playoffs. We have a chance to go through this now, and we’ve always referred to this as we go forward, we never want to go back to this once we get out of it.
“I think these kinds of moments allow for you to grow properly as you understand how important discipline is every single day.”
The Pistons may again be without Isaiah Stewart, who missed the last game with a sprained left shoulder.
Atlanta had a slow start in its last game, too. The Hawks fell behind by 23 points in the first half against Cleveland, who was without starters Evan Mobley and Darius Garland.
“We dug ourselves too much of a hole,” Young said. “It’s more about effort and energy, and sometimes about giving a crap. That’s what got us back in the game. You can’t win in this league if you only play one quarter or three. You have to do all four.”
Atlanta was helped by the return of De’Andre Hunter, who scored 18 points in his return from missing three games with right knee discomfort. But the Hawks were without leading reserve Bogdan Bogdanovic, who had scored a career-high 40 against Denver a week ago.
Atlanta is still without emerging star Jalen Johnson, out for 10 consecutive games with a left wrist injury.
Young continues to put together All-Star numbers. He is averaging 28 points, 10.8 assists and 1.3 steals in 35.9 minutes per game. He is coming off his third straight game with 35-plus points and 10-plus assists.
He scored 35 against the Cavs on 11-for-21 shooting and 7-for-12 from distance.
– Field Level Media