Pistons try to avoid making wrong kind of history vs. Nets
DETROIT — The Detroit Pistons won’t deny it. They are fully aware of the unwanted history they’ve been tumbling toward for two months.
“I could sit here and say I don’t think about it,” coach Monty Williams said. “I mean, it’s in my face.”
And if the Pistons can’t bat it away Tuesday night, they will own the longest single-season losing streak in NBA history.
Detroit will be trying to avoid its 27th straight loss when it hosts the Brooklyn Nets in the back end of a home-and-home series.
The Nets beat the Pistons 126-115 on Saturday in Brooklyn, handing Detroit its 26th consecutive defeat. The Pistons matched the 2010-11 Cleveland Cavaliers and 2013-14 Philadelphia 76ers for the most losses in a row within one season.
Next up is the overall record of 28 straight losses, set by the 76ers from late in the 2014-15 season through early 2015-16.
The Pistons got off to a 2-1 start in their first season under Williams, but haven’t won since beating Chicago in their home opener on Oct. 28.
The loss in Brooklyn was typical of the way many games have gone for the Pistons. They played well for 2 quarters but eventually their mistakes caught up with them, as the Nets scored 22 points off Detroit turnovers.
“We continue to shoot ourselves in the foot,” center Isaiah Stewart said. “If we do that, we’re not going to really win any games doing that. We’re not that good enough to recover from those kinds of mistakes.”
If the Pistons don’t win Tuesday, it could be tough to end the streak soon. Their next game is at Boston, which at 23-6 has the best record in the league. They host Toronto on Dec. 30 but then begin a four-game road trip on New Year’s Day that ends with consecutive games against Golden State and Denver, the last two NBA champions.
Williams praised the way his players have kept fighting even while not winning.
“Everybody feels down when you lose and you lost this many in a row, and you have to allow people to be human, but the way that they come back the next day is something that I am blown away by,” Williams said.
“I’ve been around a lot of teams and not many teams have that type of resilience. Our guys don’t want to be a part of any losing streak, whatever, but every day they come back with focus and drive and grit trying to win a game.”
Doncic reaches milestone:
Luka Doncic scored 50 points to eclipse 10,000 for his career and had 14 assists, lifting the Dallas Mavericks to a 128-114 win over the Phoenix Suns on Monday night.
Doncic capped a Christmas Day full of NBA games with a stellar performance, hitting 8 of 16 from 3 and all 12 of his free throws. He eclipsed 10,000 career points in the first quarter to reach the milestone in 358 career games, seventh fastest in NBA history. .
Dereck Lively II had 20 points and 10 rebounds after missing the previous four games with an ankle sprain and Tim Hardaway Jr. added 18 points in Dallas’ ninth straight game without Kyrie Irving (heel).