Turnover-prone Pistons’ losing streak reaches 25
The Utah Jazz arrived at Little Caesars Arena on Thursday with more key players missing than the Detroit Pistons — a rare sight this season. Star forward Lauri Markkanen sat out on the second night of a back-to-back due to an ailing left hamstring. Three more of their top six scorers this season — Jordan Clarkson, Talen Horton-Tucker and Keyonte George — were also on the injury report.
The Jazz were coming off of Wednesday’s road loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers, an eightpoint loss despite Cleveland missing its three top players (Donovan Mitchell, Even Mobley and Darius Garland).
On paper, Thursday was Detroit’s most winnable game in weeks.
But there’s no such thing as an easy matchup when you’ve lost 24 in a row.
Poor execution, again, cost the Pistons late and led to them dropping their 25th game in a row, a 119-111 loss to the Jazz.
“I think where we are, we don’t have any room to think about those things,” Monty Williams said before the game. “We have to play to a certain level from the start and then not skip steps. We understand these kinds of games, we’ve had them already. From my perspective, it’s always about playing a certain way, obviously playing against certain talent. All NBA players have to be respected.”
The Pistons are now a game away from tying the NBA’s single-season record of 26 straight losses, set by the 2010-11 Cavaliers and the 2013-14 Philadelphia 76ers. Next up is a road game Saturday against the Brooklyn Nets, followed by a rematch with the Nets in Detroit on Tuesday.
The Pistons had their chances Thursday. Bojan Bogdanovic’s second 3-pointer of the night brought them within four, 104-100, with 4:39 remaining in the fourth. A pair of free throws from Cade Cunningham a minute later cut it to two, 106-104. But Utah pushed it to six with a pair of free throws by John Collins, followed by a fastbreak dunk by Collins following a Jaden Ivey turnover — Detroit’s 20th of the night.
Cunningham and Ivey both missed 3-pointers on the Pistons’ next possession, and an offensive rebound on Utah’s ensuring play found Kelly Olynyk, who knocked down the dagger 3 with 2:24 on the clock. The Pistons went cold late, shooting 7-for-21 overall and 1-for-10 from 3 in the final period.
Cunningham led Detroit with 28 points, 10 assists and seven rebounds, but was also responsible for six turnovers. Ivey finished with 24 points, seven assists and five rebounds, and Bagley tallied 22 points. The Jazz were led by
the ex-Piston Olynyk (27 points, six assists) and Collin Sexton (19 points, eight assists).
Early hope
Detroit found early momentum, taking a 2719 lead with 4:44 remaining in the opening period after Cunningham knocked down his first 3-pointer. But the Pistons lost said momentum after Cunningham and Bogdanovic (who had a quiet night with eight points on 3-for-12 shooting), checked out a minute later.
The Jazz had already cut the deficit to five, and their run gained steam with Detroit’s top scorers on the bench. By the 9:25 mark of the second, the Pistons had been outscored 26-5 and trailed by 13, 45-32, despite the return of Cunningham and Bogdanovic at the start of the period.
That stretch, along with 12 first-half turnovers by the Pistons, helped the Jazz carry a 64-58 lead into halftime. Williams had previously been staggering Cunningham and Bogdanovic’s minutes, with the recognition that the team has struggled with both on the bench. Detroit managed to tie the game twice in the second half but couldn’t take the lead.
Pistons struggle to take care of ball, again
A third of the way into the season, the Pistons are still among the worst in the NBA at taking care of the ball. Their 16.4 turnovers per game are a marginal improvement from earlier in the season but still the league’s secondhighest mark, surpassed only by the team on the opposite end of the floor Thursday night. The Jazz have coughed the ball up 17 times a night. But they were far more organized than the home team.
Detroit’s 12 first-half turnovers were four short of their season high, but it was their 10th time this season with double-digit giveaways through the first two periods. It negated an otherwise solid offensive start that saw them finish the first half shooting 53.3% overall and 41.2% from 3.