Pistons drop 25th straight game to shorthanded Jazz as history looms: ‘This one hurts more than most’
'Sell the team!' Detroit fans chanted in late moments of defeat in a game Pistons were betting favorite
On Thursday, the Detroit Pistons had perhaps their best shot at grabbing their first win since October.
Yet again, as they have in every single outing the past two months, they lost, this time for the 25th straight time.
The Utah Jazz, who were without most of their starting lineup, fended off the Pistons to grab a 119-111 win at Little Caesars Arena. The Pistons’ 25th consecutive loss is one defeat shy of matching the NBA’s all-time single-season record.
“I want to be careful with my words, because this one hurts more than most of them,” Pistons head coach Monty Williams said, via the Detroit Free Press’ Omari Sankofa. “A team that played last night gets 30 points off turnovers and rebounds. This one is unbelievably hard to understand how we can get outworked in those categories. That is absolutely on me.”
The Pistons have not won a game since Oct. 28, when they beat the Chicago Bulls in their third contest of the season. They started the season by winning twice in their first three games. But that was almost two full months ago. The World Series was still being played the last time the Pistons won, and the college basketball season hadn’t even started.
Lauri Markkanen, Jordan Clarkson, Keyonte George and Talen Horton-Tucker were all sidelined for various reasons Thursday, which left the Jazz significantly shorthanded. The Pistons were even listed as 2.5-point favorites on BetMGM a few hours before tipoff.
The Jazz, who fell to the Cleveland Cavaliers 124-116 on Wednesday, flew ahead in the final stretch to secure the eight-point win in Detroit. Kelly Olynyk dropped 25 points to lead Utah, and Collin Sexton added 19. The Jazz held a two-point lead entering the fourth quarter before the Pistons missed their first six shots from behind the arc to open the final period and went scoreless for a near-two minute stretch in the final three minutes of the game.
When it was clear that Pistons weren't going to win, fans at the arena let the team — and Pistons owner Tom Gores — have it.
Pistons fans chanting “sell the team” after their 25th straight loss 👀pic.twitter.com/UnjuNgmmvl
— Ball Don’t Lie (@Balldontlie) December 22, 2023
The Pistons had 20 turnovers as a team, compared to 12 from Utah, and they were out-rebounded by three. Cade Cunningham led the team with 28 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists. Jaden Ivey added 24 points and seven rebounds.
“It’s just carelessness,” Williams said of the turnovers. “That’s the only way you can sum it up. It’s the same story — playing in a crowd, not being sure about where we need to go with the ball and being strong with the ball.”
Will the Pistons make history?
The Pistons are one loss shy of matching the NBA’s record of 26 consecutive losses in a single season, and they're three losses from matching the all-time record of 28 straight losses, which the Philadelphia 76ers did over the span of two seasons. Detroit’s 25-game losing streak surpasses the longest losing streak in MLB, the NHL and the post-merger NFL.
The Pistons will take on the Brooklyn Nets on Saturday at the Barclays Center, where they can match the league record. They could own the all-time record on Dec. 30, when they host the Toronto Raptors, assuming they drop a second game against the Nets (Dec. 26) and a game against the Celtics in Boston (Dec. 28) between then.
“It’s definitely on my mind,” Cunningham said, via Sankofa. “That’s history that nobody wants to be a part of. We’re trying to build something that’s sustainable … To be on the wrong side of history, nobody wants to be there. That is definitely an extra edge that we have to have, and we should’ve won this game.”
That history, though, is rapidly approaching. And the Pistons, time and again, haven’t proven that they can fend it off — even when, on paper, they should.
For the time being, Cunningham is trying to keep his head up.
“We’re not 2-26 bad,” he said, via Yahoo Sports’ Vincent Goodwill. “No way.”
