“Nobody wants to be a part of that history.”
The Detroit Pistons lost to the Utah Jazz 119-111 on their own court on Thursday, moving one step closer to NBA humiliation for the 25th time in a row.
The Pistons are currently one game away from tying the NBA record for the longest single-season losing streak, which stands at 26 games and was held by the Philadelphia 76ers in 2013–14 and the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2010–11.
The 76ers’ 28-game losing run during the 2014–15 and 2015–16 seasons was the longest losing run in history.
Dejected Pistons point guard Cade Cunningham remarked, “That’s history that nobody wants to be a part of.”
Utah had seemed to present the Pistons with a fantastic chance to stop the losing streak, but they were playing the second night of a back-to-back without Lauri Markkanen, Jordan Clarkson, and Talen Horton-Tucker.
However, the Jazz changed the tide with a 13-0 scoring spree that saw them grab a 45-32 lead early in the second quarter, after Detroit had a strong start and led by as many as eight points in the first quarter.
The Pistons knotted the score at 84-84 in the third quarter after trailing 64-58 at the half, but the Jazz continued to pull away.
Kelly Olynyk scored 27 points to lead the Jazz. With nineteen Jazz players scoring in double digits, Collin Sexton contributed nineteen, while Ochai Agbaji scored eighteen off the bench. For the Pistons, Cunningham scored 28 points and dished out 10 assists.
Detroit’s shooting guard Jaden Ivey scored twenty-four points, and center Marvin Bagley III added twenty-two, but no other Pistons players finished in double digits as the legendary team that won NBA titles in 1989, 1990, and 2004 lost for the first time since October 28.
Cunningham, fresh off a 43-point effort in a defeat to the Atlanta Hawks, declared, “I am sick right now.” Six turnovers from me directly destroys us. As a team, we scored 20 and gave up 27 points. That is lethal.
It was described as “a tough one to swallow” by Pistons coach Monty Williams.
As the last seconds passed, fans at Little Caesars Arena agreed, yelling, “Sell the team.”
In Oklahoma City, the Thunder defeated the Los Angeles Clippers 134-115 to snap their nine-game winning run. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 31 points, while rookie center Chet Holmgren added 23.
Early in the third quarter, Holmgren’s incredible dunk—which he completed off his own rebound off the backboard—gave the Thunder the lead. They would go on to win their sixth straight game after that.
Without forward Kawhi Leonard, James Harden scored 23 points and Paul George added 22 for the Clippers.
Russell Westbrook, a former top player for the Thunder, led the Clippers with a season-high 13 rebounds and 15 points after coming off the bench.
Timberwolves defeat the Lakers
Anthony Edwards scored 27 points to help the Minnesota Timberwolves defeat the struggling Los Angeles Lakers 118-111 in Minneapolis. Every one of the Timberwolves’ five starters scored in double digits, with Karl-Anthony Towns adding 21 points. LeBron James missed games due to tendinitis in his left ankle, but Anthony Davis scored 31 points to lead the Lakers.
Giannis chipped in with 37 points, 10 rebounds, and six assists to lead the Milwaukee Bucks
Antetokounmpo defeated the Orlando Magic 118-114 to win six games in a row.
The Bucks have now won 15 straight games at their Fiserv Forum stadium thanks to the 14 points and 8 assists that Damian Lillard provided.
The San Antonio Spurs lost 114-95 against the Bulls in Chicago, their 21st loss in 22 games.
For the Bulls, Coby White scored 22 points and DeMar DeRozan added 21.
With a season-low seven points and five rebounds, rookie phenom Victor Wembanyama led the Spurs with 21 points. Wembanyama had missed one game due to a sore ankle.
That put a stop to the eight-game run of double-doubles the young French phenom had set for himself in the league.