'Nothing positive' about Pistons' situation after record defeat, says Cunningham
Patric Ridge
December 27, 2023 22:30 MYT
December 27, 2023 22:30 MYT
The Detroit Pistons have lost 27 consecutive games and there are few positives to take from the situation, says Cade Cunningham.
Detroit went down 118-112 to the Brooklyn Nets on Tuesday, etching their name into the NBA records books in the process.
The Pistons have now lost more games successively in a single season than any other team in the history of the competition. The Philadelphia 76ers hold the overall record, with 28 straight defeats, though that skid was spread over the 2014-15 and 2015-16 campaigns.
And Cunningham, who had 41 points, says there is nothing positive to glean from the scenario.
"I don't think what I said was positivity, I think it's just being real," Cunningham told reporters after attempting to rally the Pistons troops in the locker room.
"There's nothing positive about this situation right now that we put ourselves in, so that's why we have to dig deep and get ourselves out of it.
"You can't get away from it. It weighs on us every day, I mean everywhere. It weighs on us."
Final pic.twitter.com/rlvpwAgvF7 — Detroit Pistons (@DetroitPistons) December 27, 2023
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Coach Monty Williams said he shoulders the blame.
"Again, when you look at records, you think of coaches, but I'm sure the players don't want that attached to the name on the jersey," he said.
"Was it heavy? It's been heavy for a while. That's just the nature of this kind of losing streak and it's not gonna change because we're grading the level of it, we've got to do what we've got to do to change it.
"Nobody wants this kind of thing attached to them. I was brought in here to change this thing and it's probably the most on me than anybody. The players are playing their hearts out, I’ve got to put them in a position where they don’t feel tight or heavy but it’s where we are – that’s the reality of the situation.
"I don't think anyone in our locker room has been through this. I don't have a reference point. I've been through tough playoff losses, and this is relative to that. When you lose a playoff game, this kind of feels like that.
"Basketball is a body of work you take a lot of pride in, and you take pride because you want to win. We just haven't done that."
Detroit's fans made their feelings known during the game, chanting "Sell the team!"
It was a chant that did not sit well with the Pistons' Jaden Ivey, who said: "We have the right people in this locker room and most importantly, I just heard the fans talking about sell the team and just in my mind it's like what we talked about, who is with us? Whose really with us?"
"The crowd was amazing, I thought, but there's some that [I'm wondering] who is really with us?
"Chanting 'sell the team,' I thought it was a bit much because we're growing and obviously the record and a lot of people expected us to be better in this upcoming point of the season, but we're gonna continue to row the boat and we're gonna forget what everybody else says, stay together and play for each other."
Next up for the Pistons is a clash with the league-leading Boston Celtics on Thursday.