It was the best game Detroit has played in a couple of weeks.
Cade Cunningham scored 41 plus dished out nine assists, taking over in the second half to score 37 on 13-of-16 shooting. Bojan Bogdanovic added 23 points. Detroit came out hot and led 22-8 in the first quarter, and as a team, it played with more fight than we have seen for much of this losing streak, battling back when the Nets would make their runs. The Pistons played hard (if not always smart) for an entire game.
It wasn’t enough: Brooklyn Nets 118, Detroit Pistons 112.
It was Detroit’s 27th straight loss — the Pistons now have the record for most consecutive losses in one season. Detroit is one loss short of tying the NBA’s all-time consecutive loss streak at 28 (the 76ers across the 2014-15 seasons).
Next up for Detroit is the Boston Celtics on Thursday, followed by the Raptors on Saturday. However, there will be no easy games for Detroit now as teams will be focused when facing the Pistons — nobody wants to be the first team to lose to Detroit since Oct. 28.
After the game, coach Monty Williams pointed to the second quarter where Detroit was outscored 36-23. Quote via Omari Sankofa II of the Detroit Free Press.
“The way we started was something we’ve seen a lot this year. We’ve had really good starts, at times, and there’s been times we’ve been in a hole as well. To start like that and let it go in the second quarter, that was the quarter that put us in a hole. Negative-13.”
Monty on if No. 27 hanging on the team's head weighed them down: "I’m sure it was. 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."
— Omari Sankofa II (@omarisankofa) December 27, 2023
Monty on if he addressed the crowd's jeering and boos with the team: "That’s something that we all have to process on our own. What are you gonna say? Our guys feel bad enough. I’m not going to remind them of what happened out there … the way you change that is by winning."
— Omari Sankofa II (@omarisankofa) December 27, 2023
You could feel how much the Pistons’ home crowd wanted this, but in the fourth quarter the Nets did a better job of getting to the line and just executing. They simply have more NBA-caliber players. The Nets got 24 points on a strong night from Cameron Johnson hitting 3-pointers and getting to the rim. Mikal Bridges added 21 points and Cam Thomas 17.
It’s been a long run of futility for the Pistons as an organization — they have made the playoffs twice in the past 14 years, both first-round exits. This is year four of the latest rebuild and Monty Williams paid exorbitantly to come in and speed the process along, but the results this season have been hard to watch. Williams and Cunningham stepped up in postgame comments taking on the blame — just as owner Tom Gores did speaking to reporters last week — but it falls on president/GM Troy Weaver to fix the mess of a roster he made. There are little things Detroit needs to try to get a win — why is James Wiseman playing, exactly? — but the overall issues are much bigger in roster construction.
It’s hard to see when the Pistons losing streak ends. Gores promised changes when he spoke to reporters, what those will be and when are the big questions now.
