The last time the Detroit Pistons won an NBA game, Halloween hadn’t arrived.
The Pistons set a single-season record for futility on Tuesday, losing their 27th consecutive regular-season game, eclipsing the record the Philadelphia 76ers equaled in 2013-14 and set by the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2010-11.
Detroit is now the sole owner of the unwanted record after a 118-112 loss to the Brooklyn Nets, dropping to 2-28.
The Pistons took a 97-92 lead on Cade Cunningham’s 3-pointer with 8:10 left in the fourth quarter, but Brooklyn’s 13-0 run gave it a 105-97 lead with 4:53 remaining. Detroit trailed 112-110 with 57.9 seconds remaining but were unable to stop Brooklyn in the final minute.
Cunningham scored 37 of his game-high 41 points in the second half but it wasn’t enough to prevent the Pistons from infamy.
‘You have to be real about where we are,’ Pistons coach Monty Williams said. ‘Nobody wants something like this attached to them. Bottom line, it’s my job. It’s my responsibility. … I was brought in here to change this thing. It’s probably the most on me than anybody. Player are playing their hearts out. I’ve got to get them in the position where they don’t feel tight or heavy.’
No team with a .067 winning percentage has a winnable game on its schedule, but of the Pistons’ next seven games, five are on the road, and four are against teams with winning records (Boston, Houston, Denver, Sacramento). They are on pace for a miserable 6-76 record, which would be the fewest victories in a season in NBA history.
‘It weighs on us every day. … Everybody staying together is key, and we’ve got to stay desperate,’ Cunningham said.
The Pistons entered Tuesday’s game with the No. 28 offense, the No. 26 defense and the 29th net rating. Based on those statistics, they are not the worst team in the NBA. Record-wise, they are, with San Antonio right behind at 4-25 and Washington at 5-24. Detroit has lost seven games by six points or fewer but also lost six by 20 or more.
Over the course of two seasons in 2014-15 and 2015-16, the Sixers lost 28 consecutive games, which is an NBA record for consecutives losses spanning two seasons.
Pistons owner Tom Gores met with local reporters last week and apologized to fans.
“I’m as disappointed as anybody,” Gores said. “Speaking to our fans and letting them know what’s happening, it’s critical at this time. It is a pivotal moment. I have a lot of thoughts about it.’
He promised changes without sharing specifics, other than saying the jobs of coach Monty Williams and general manager Troy Weaver are safe.
“Within all the losses here, what we still have is a very good future,” Gores said. “No. 1, we have an amazing set of young players. High-character, high-talent. This set of players, and I know them individually and I saw them the other day, we’re in a great spot with our young talent. I think seven or eight players are under 22, so they’re young.
“No. 2, we have set ourselves up in the way our contracts are flexible. We had all these contracts that saddled us, we couldn’t be nimble. We are also set up with a lot of cap space, and you know I’m willing to do whatever it takes for this organization to be successful.
“As much as the vision feels blurry, to me it’s the same feel I had at the beginning of the season of a bright future. I still have that.”