The Detroit Pistons' losing streak has hit an NBA-record-breaking number.
Despite getting 41 points from Cade Cunningham, the Pistons suffered a 27th consecutive loss on Tuesday night, falling to the Brooklyn Nets 118-112 at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit. The 27 straight defeats mark the longest single-season losing streak in NBA history, surpassing the 2010-11 Cleveland Cavaliers and the 2013-14 Philadelphia 76ers.
Detroit is also now one loss away from tying the league record for consecutive losses overall at 28. That mark is held by the Sixers, who lost their final 10 games of the 2014-15 season before starting the 2015-16 season on an 18-game losing streak.
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The Pistons will have to defeat the Eastern Conference-leading Boston Celtics on the road Thursday to avoid matching that losing streak. Should they lose to Boston, Detroit will then need to beat the Toronto Raptors at home Saturday to avoid breaking the Sixers' all-time losing streak record.
Cunningham looked like he was going to will Detroit to a skid-snapping victory versus Brooklyn. The former No. 1 overall pick scored 10 straight points for Detroit to cut Brooklyn's lead to two with just under one minute left in regulation. But Brooklyn's Dorian Finney-Smith then knocked down a back-breaking 3-pointer, which was followed by a missed triple from Detroit.
After four consecutive seasons with 23 or fewer wins, the Pistons gave Monty Williams a massive contract to take over as the team's head coach. The addition of the 2021-22 Coach of the Year, along with a promising young core featuring the likes of Cade Cunningham, Jalen Duren and Jaden Ivey, provided hope that Detroit could contend for a play-in spot, at the least, this season.
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The Pistons opened the campaign with a one-point road loss to the Miami Heat before beating the Charlotte Hornets and Chicago Bulls to improve to 2-1. But Detroit hasn't tasted victory since taking down Chicago on Oct. 28.
The now-2-28 Pistons also find themselves in danger of recording one of the worst seasons in league history. The 1972-73 Sixers own the record for most losses (73), the 1947-48 Providence Steam Rollers own the record for fewest wins (6) and the 2011-12 Charlotte Bobcats own the record for worst winning percentage (.106).
Will Detroit break any of those marks?