The Detroit Pistons have officially hit rock bottom. Just days after setting a new NBA record for the most consecutive losses in a single season with 27 games, the Pistons have now lost their 28th consecutive game after falling 128-122 in overtime to the Boston Celtics. Unable to close the deal on the best team in the league after leading by as many as 21 points in the first half and 19 at halftime, Detroit has now gone two full months without picking up a victory.
Over the course of Thursday night's game, it truly appeared as if the Pistons were going to do the unthinkable and take down the team with the best record in the NBA on their home floor.
Even when the Celtics battled back to overcome their 21-point deficit, the Pistons never gave up and still put themselves in a position to win this game late in the fourth quarter and overtime. Unfortunately for them, the moment was too good to be true, once again leaving the Pistons shaking their heads with their losing streak increasing.
In his first season as the head coach of the Pistons, Monty Williams is in disbelief about his team being on the wrong side of history, especially since he feels like this losing streak shouldn't even exist.
“I just told them that it takes a lot integrity and character to do what they're doing,” Williams said in his postgame remarks, via Bally Sports Detroit. “I've been in the league for a while and I've seen teams give in to circumstances that are less than what we are dealing with. Obviously, we had a tough third quarter. The ability to fight back from that and have an even fourth was tremendous. I just… I hurt for them. We feel like we are getting close to not just winning one game, but a lot of games.”
When you look at the Pistons' recent stretch of games, all you will see are red Ls next to every single game. However, this past week has seen them play some of their best basketball of this losing streak. Detroit hung in there with the Utah Jazz in an eight-point loss and kept things interesting in two straight games against the Brooklyn Nets. On Thursday, the Pistons controlled the flow of the game against Boston for a vast majority of the night.
As Williams alluded to, if it wasn't for a poor third quarter in which they got outscored 35-16, Detroit would have been well on their way to ending was has become the most captivating losing streak in all of professional sports.
“For me, I am just unbelievably proud of the group and the way they bring it,” Williams continued. “They've heard all the stuff about our team and they keep bringing it.
“I know it is going to pay off for us.”
Losing streak hits record-high 28 games
What the Pistons have accomplished through the early portion of the 2023-24 NBA season is historic. Unfortunately, they happen to be on the wrong side of history.
In addition to owning the record for the longest losing streak in a single season, the Pistons have now tied the Philadelphia 76ers for the most consecutive losses in NBA history. The Sixers lost the final 10 games of the 2014-15 season, followed by the first 18 games of the 2015-16 season to get to their 28-game losing streak.
“This team has been through… We've lost a lot of games, everybody knows that,” Williams explained Thursday night. “They bring a spirit, and integrity, and toughness to the gym every single day. They hear everything that people have to say about them and us because they are on social media.
“We can't do anything about the noise. We can only approach our jobs.”
The Pistons have not won a game since Oct. 28. Their average margin of defeat during this streak has been 13.5 points per game, yet Detroit has made things interesting as of late.
Four of their last five losses have been single-digit games that were decided in the final 12 minutes of play in the fourth quarter. Thursday's loss to the Celtics was the Pistons' first overtime game of the season.
“At this point, this is all we have right now,” Pistons forward Bojan Bogdanovic told ESPN prior to Thursday's game in Boston. “So you gotta get one W and keep growing, even if it's hard right now to find anything positive.”
Bogdanovic and others inside the Pistons' locker room are obviously frustrated with the way things have gone. Nobody wants to lose 28 straight games, yet there are some within the organization who are embracing the frustrations that have stemmed from all of these recent defeats.
Cade Cunningham's frustrations mounting
Cade Cunningham is the best player on the Pistons. Currently in the midst of his third season with the team, Cunningham has had an All-Star-like season, averaging 23.3 points and 7.1 assists per game while shooting 44.9 percent from the floor and 34.3 percent from 3-point range, all of which are new career-high marks.
Over the team's recent stretch of games, Cunningham has been fantastic. After recording 41 points in their six-point loss at home to the Nets, Cunningham came out and dropped 31 points against the Celtics on Thursday night. Still, the Pistons star's heroics have not been able to lead the team to a win.
Cunningham, who has been visibly frustrated after the team's recent losses, is still pushing forward and searching for ways to lead his team while they are on this dark path.
“I think it shows like we're on the same level as all these teams we're playing against,” Cunningham said in the locker room, via CLNS Media. “There's no team that I've ever come across in the NBA where I felt like I was going into a slaughterhouse. I've never felt like that in my life going into a basketball game. Every game, we should be able to fight teams and impose our will on them.
“There's a lot of growth in tonight and something we can learn from. Hopefully we can take that into the next game.”
Although there are improvements the Pistons have been making on the court, the fact of the matter is they have still lost 28 straight games. Whether it is wearing brown paper bags over their heads or chanting “sell the team,” Pistons fans have made it clear they are tired of the organization's inability to compete.
Winning games is not a simple task in the NBA, especially given all the talent across the board. Cunningham and the Pistons are looking to snap their losing skid, but winning just one game is not their only goal.
“I'm not interested in just winning one more game this year,” Cunningham stated. “To just stop this, I mean, that would be soft in my opinion. Our goals are a lot higher than that. We have what it takes to win a game, that's nothing. But to put games together and find what's clicking and allow us to sustain winning, that's what we are looking for right now.”
The Pistons can win a game. In fact, they can win multiple games like they did very early on this season. When this third win will come seems to be the ultimate question everyone wants an answer to right now with the Pistons' losing streak having no clear end in sight.
When will Pistons win again?
The intrigue surrounding the Pistons is not necessarily about their losing streak. It's now about when they will win their next game.
No other team in the NBA wants to be deemed as the team that ended this Pistons streak, which is why we have seen the level of competition in their last few games rise. As a result, every arena they have played in has had a little bit of an edge to it, almost as if Detroit is playing their opponents in Game 7 of a playoff series.
The task at hand has grown more difficult for the Pistons, especially since starting big man Isaiah Stewart is set to miss close to two weeks of action with a toe injury.
While the Pistons will not play a better team record-wise than the Celtics, who they just lost to by six points, their schedule is by no means favorable moving forward. After returning home to play the Toronto Raptors on Saturday, the Pistons will begin a four-game road trip where they will play the Houston Rockets, Utah Jazz, Golden State Warriors, and Denver Nuggets.
Could the Pistons snap their losing streak over these next five games?
Keep an eye on Saturday's game against Toronto. This seems like the obvious choice for the Pistons' 28-game losing streak to come to an end. Not only have Cunningham and the team been growing over their last few matchups, but the Raptors may end up being shorthanded in Detroit for this game.
Toronto is set to host the Celtics on Friday night and will immediately have to hit the road to be ready for Saturday night's game the following day. Like many teams do in the NBA, it's possible that the Raptors look to rest some of their key talents in Pascal Siakam and Scottie Barnes against the Pistons. Even if they do play, that's a tough back-to-back set.
If the losing streak reaches 29 games, it's hard to envision the Pistons defeating the Rockets. When home this season, the Rockets have posted a 12-4 record. Not to mention, they are a very strong defensive team that has proven to be a problem for some of the best teams in the league.
Should another game be added to the loss column for Detroit, a rematch with the Jazz presents their next best chance to get a win. However, the Pistons were unable to beat the Jazz earlier this week despite Utah not having Lauri Markkanen, Jordan Clarkson, Keyonte George, and others available. A healthier Jazz team has looked a bit better of late.
So much has been made about when the Pistons will actually end this streak. After what they did on Thursday night, forcing overtime against the best team in the league, it's clear that this team has what it takes to get back in the win column. This losing streak is going to come to an end in the near future, quite possibly during their upcoming five games.
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