Eric Woodyard, ESPND26. December 2023, 9:50 p.m. ET
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- Eric Woodyard covers the Detroit Lions for ESPN. He joined ESPN in September 2019 as an NBA reporter for the Midwest region before transitioning to his current role in April 2021. The Flint, Michigan native is a graduate of Western Michigan University and has authored/co-authored three books: Wasted, Ethan's Talent Search and All In: The Kelvin Torbert Story. He is the proud parent of a son, Ethan. You can follow him on Twitter: @E_Woodyard
DETROIT – It's history not many fans at Little Caesars Arena were looking forward to Tuesday night, but the Detroit Pistons couldn't escape NBA infamy, losing their 27th straight game with a 118-112 loss to the Brooklyn Nets.
It is the worst consecutive defeat in a single season in league history. The 76ers' overall record is 28 straight losses, but that stretched to the 2014-15 and 2015-16 seasons.
Detroit hasn't won a game since its Oct. 28 home opener against Chicago and is now 2-28 on the season.
| league | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 76s | 28* | N.B.A |
| 2023-24 | Pistons | 27 | N.B.A |
| 2013-14 | 76s | 26 | N.B.A |
| 2010-11 | Cavaliers | 26 | N.B.A |
| 1976-77 | privateer | 26* | NFL |
| 1889 | Colonel | 26 | MLB |
| * Spread over several seasons | |||
Entering Tuesday's game, Pistons coach Monty Williams couldn't avoid the topic of the all-time losing record – something he reportedly didn't want his name associated with – but it continues to weigh heavily on the franchise.
“Even when you look at records, you think about coaches, but I'm sure the players don't want that associated with the name on the jersey,” Williams said. “Was it difficult? It's been hard for a while. That's just the nature of this kind of losing streak and that's not going to change because we evaluate the level, we have to do what we have to do to change it.
Cade Cunningham, the No. 1 overall pick in 2021, finished the game with 41 points, along with 9 rebounds and 5 assists. He scored 37 points in the second half alone, but he has now lost all 10 career games when he scored 30 or more points – the longest career starting streak in NBA history, according to a study by ESPN Stats & Information.
After the game, Cunningham spoke passionately to the team in the locker room about the things that need to be fixed, urging teammates not to “jump off the boat” and to “stay together” as the losses continue to mount.
“I don't think what I said was positive, I think it's just about being real… There's nothing positive about this situation we're in right now, so we have to dig deep and ourselves “You can’t escape it.” Cunningham said. “You can’t escape it. It weighs on us every day, I mean everywhere. It weighs on us.”
The Pistons got off to a fast start in the first quarter and had a double-digit lead (14 points) for the first time in a contest since November 12th (against the Bulls). But they committed six turnovers in the second quarter and went into halftime trailing 61-54.
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They lost 71-60 at 8:35 of the third quarter after the Nets' Cam Johnson hit a drive floater, but pulled to within three points in the fourth quarter when Cunningham poured in 18 points. Fans chanted “Let's go Pistons” in the final frame and tried to rally the home team when Cunningham hit a three-pointer at 8:10 to give Detroit a 97-92 lead.
But the Nets finished the game on a 26-15 run, writing the 2023-24 Pistons into the history books. As the final seconds ticked down, scores of fans began chanting, “Sell the team! Sell the team!” even though Pistons owner Tom Gores wasn’t in the building to hear it.
The chants didn't go down well with some players.
“We have the right people in this dressing room and most importantly, I just heard the fans talking about selling the team and in my head it's like what we were talking about: who's with us? “Who’s really with us?” said sophomore guard Jaden Ivey, who finished with 9 points and 4 assists. “The crowd was great, I thought, but there are a few of them [I’m wondering] Who is really with us?
“The calls of 'sell the team' were a bit exaggerated I think because we're growing and obviously the record is there and a lot of people expected us to do better in this upcoming part of the season, but we'll keep rowing.” The boat and us will forget what everyone else says, stay together and play for each other.