The moment we were so afraid of, the one it was so hard to watch, is finally here. The Pistons have lost their 27th game in a row and have now established a new single-season record in the NBA, with the longest losing streak in league history.
This Tuesday night, Brooklyn defeated Detroit 118 to 112, while the fans at the Little Caesars Arena yelled “sell the team” once again. Only this time, it was louder than ever. Coach Monty Williams feels the most responsible for his team’s situation.
“Nobody wants this kind of thing attached to them,” he said after the game. “I was brought in here to change this thing, and it’s probably the most on me than anybody. … It’s where we are. That’s the reality of the situation.”
Final pic.twitter.com/rlvpwAgvF7
— Detroit Pistons (@DetroitPistons) December 27, 2023
The last time the Pistons won a game was on October 28, when they achieved their second victory of the campaign against the Chicago Bulls. Two months later, the Michigan franchise seemed to have forgotten how they were able to defeat another NBA team.
“I’m sure it was,” Williams told the press. “When you look at records, you think of coaches. I’m sure players don’t want that attached to the name on the jersey. It’s been heavy for a while. That’s the nature of this kind of losing streak.”
However, there is still one record left to beat, which is the league’s all-time record. This one is still in the Philadelphia 76ers’ possession, as they once lost 28 matches in a row over two seasons. This was back in 2015, when they lost the last 10 games of that campaign and then fell to defeat 18 more times in the following competition.
Owner Tom Gores had vowed to “change” this with the franchise after hearing the crowd’s incessant chants to sell the franchise.
“We expected a lot more. But we have to be real and then there’s some things that hadn’t been working with the makeup of the team,” he said last week. “Accountability has to be held. There might be additions, you know, to staff and all that stuff, but what’s for sure is change is coming.”
Cade Cunningham’s 41 points weren’t enough to save the Pistons from falling to yet another loss
Once again, Cade Cunningham put on a superhero cape to try and save his team from another disaster, but simply couldn’t carry the responsibility all by himself.
“[Cunningham] talked passionately about the things we need to do and how everybody has to be in the boat and accountable for where we are. You have to be real about where we are,” his coach shared. “Nobody wants something like this attached to them. The bottom line is it’s my job, it’s my responsibility.”
The Detroit star led his squad with 41 points, and added 9 rebounds and 5 assists in last night’s defeat. The guard shot 15-of-21 from the field and scored all of the Pistons’ points but four in the second half. He also became the first franchise player to produce two 40-point performances in a single month since Jerry Stackhouse did so over two decades ago.
“Don’t jump off the boat. We gotta stay together,” Cunningham delivered a message to his teammates. “Right now is the easiest time to stand off and be on your own, but we need to continue to lean on each other and continue to push each other and hold each other accountable more than ever now.”
