The Detroit Pistons and Boston Celtics are two teams that attract huge attention from fans for completely different reasons.
The Boston Celtics are rising to become the current number one team in the NBA, leading the league in terms of win-loss record (24-6). Meanwhile, the Detroit Pistons (2-29 record) have just set a record with a streak of 27 consecutive defeats, the longest in a season.
These two teams meet in Boston, automatically putting the home team in the “top position”.
They are both a stronger team, in better form and are still undefeated when playing on a familiar field. But in the first two rounds of this competition, the Pistons were shocked when the bottom team created a 29-12 run to lead the top team by 19 points.
The gap was then leveled in the third round, but Boston, with almost its strongest lineup (without Jaylen Brown), could not easily defeat a Detroit team hungry to win. It took extra time for Jayson Tatum, Kristaps Porzingis and his teammates to win with a score of 128-122.
Despite their efforts to fight to the end, the Detroit Pistons still could not avoid their 28th consecutive defeat this season. This number equals another sad NBA record, the longest losing streak in history.
Until now, the Philadelphia 76ers are the only team to lose 28 consecutive matches, a losing streak that lasted from the end of the 2014-15 season to the beginning of the 2015-16 season. This record will now be jointly owned between the Sixers and Detroit Pistons for the 2023-24 season.
The Pistons currently hold two sad NBA records including:
– The longest losing streak in a season is 26 consecutive matches broken 1 match ago, now extended to 28 matches.
– The longest unrestricted losing streak in the season is 28 consecutive matches, just equaled after the loss to the Boston Celtics on December 29.
Cade Cunningham is still the leader of the Detroit Pistons. The 2001-born defender scored 22 points in the first two rounds before finishing the match with 31 points, 9 assists and 6 steals.
On the other side of the court, Jayson Tatum (31 points, 10 assists, 5 steals) and Kristaps Porzingis (35 points, 13-21 FG, 8 rebounds) led the Boston Celtics’ comeback effort.
After more than 2 months of competition, the home team at TD Garden is still the only team undefeated at home with 15 consecutive wins.
Coming back to the Detroit Pistons, they showed how good they can fight and compete if the whole team plays disciplined. The next opportunity to interrupt the failure will come to coach Monty Williams and his team this coming Sunday morning when welcoming the Toronto Raptors at home.
