There was a lot of hop for the Detroit Pistons coming into the 2023-2024 season. So much so that fans all throughout the NBA had some hope that they could make the play-in game. Maybe even a low seed in the playoffs. With talent like Cade Cunningham, Jalen Duren, Jaden Ivey and others, it seemed almost impossible to replicate the previous seasons. On top of lots of talent, the Pistons hired a new coach named Monty Williams, a coach with a good history coaching some of the leagues most prestigious teams of late.
But, this combination of talent and veteran coaching seems to have not done the trick. Far from it to be realistic. After 3 great games at the start of the season leaving Detroit with a 2-1 record, things went completely downhill. Detroit’s spark plug, Jalen Duren, got injured. This was a punch in the face to the team for sure, but no one could predict what would follow.
The Pistons lost a whopping 28 games straight. 28 games. This is the longest losing streak any team has ever had in the NBA. When the Pistons had teams with not even a single star, they were able to dodge this terrible record.
After the longest drought of all time, on December 30th, 2023 the Pistons finally were able to catch a win against the Toronto Raptors.
NBA fans have been deeply invested in trying to figure out why exactly this team is so awful. They are always able to show that they can put up a fight against some of the leagues best team. But this courage seems to only come in short stints. They have shown time and time again that they are a capable basketball team. They put up a valiant effort against the Boston Celtics in a 128-122 overtime loss. The unfortunate part about this though, is that they had a 19 point lead at halftime.
Why are the Pistons blowing these leads? Is it a coaching problem? A roster issue? Team chemistry? None of us can be too sure. But Detroit fans will continue to have hope, although they may not have much more to give. With the talent on this team there is most definitely upside to come. Only time will tell, and let’s hope the Pistons can avoid breaking any more records.
