The Detroit Pistons lost again. How close are they to the NBA’s all-time single season loss record?
If it wasn’t clear before, the Pistons have a problem. So much so, that even when their star had a sensational night, it couldn’t stop them from losing.
Despite an impressive performance from the Pistons star, the team was unable to bring an end to its now ridiculously long losing streak. With that, there will undoubtedly be some soul-searching as the players look to get back on track.
Trae Young had a plan and he stuck to it
As much as the focus will be on the fact that the Detroit Pistons were unable to get the win, the reality is that there was nothing given by the Atlanta Hawks on Monday night, and especially because of the performance of their star, Trae Young. The 25-year-old has been in sizzling form recently and extended that run with yet another double-double, as he put 31 points with 15 assists on the board in what turned out to be a 130-124 win. With the result, the Pistons conceded their 24th straight loss, something that Young addressed directly. “I was not going to let them break their streak against us,” he said.
Trae Young condemns Pistons to yet another loss
The last time that the Pistons won was back on October 28th, when they beat the Chicago Bulls. To be clear, the Pistons are now just two losses away from matching the NBA’s longest losing streak in one season. It goes without saying that everyone on the team, including star Cade Cunningham is aware of how serious that is. “I want to win, we all do,” said Cunningham, who posted a career-high 43 points on the night. “We’ve got a young team. We need these moments to learn and get better,” he said. Indeed, the scenario was made all the more damning by the fact that Bojan Bogdanovic also scored 25 points for Detroit.
Where Young was concerned, it’s worth noting that this is the fourth consecutive game in which he has scored at least 30 points with a minimum of 10 assists to add to his team-leading double-double count. He now stands as 16. against the Pistons. As for how it all went down, the Hawks went 9-of-12 from beyond the arc in the first quarter, including two by Young, as they took an early lead which they never relinquished. While the Pistons did try, it was clearly not their night as Atlanta closed the contest with 16-of-36 3s.
OK, but what about Cade Cunningham?
As you can probably imagine, it’s hard to have the kind of night that the former No. 1 overall pick (2021) had, only to come up short. Yet, one has to consider the idea that this is only Cunningham’s second year in the league i.e., this will take time. Indeed, that’s something that Pistons head coach Monty Williams spoke directly to as he stated that Cunningham “is just growing”, before speaking to his leadership qualities. “It’s tremendous watching his leadership through what will probably be the toughest stretch of his career,” Williams said. Aside from his impressive points tally, Cunningham also put up a team-leading seven assists and three steals.
The Pistons are on the verge of a dubious record
If you’re wondering, the NBA record for the longest losing streak within a single season is 26, a number which is shared by the 2010-11 Cleveland Cavaliers and 2013-14 Philadelphia 76ers, who lost a record 28 straight games across both the 2014-15 and 2015-16 seasons.