MIAMI (AP) — A week ago, the Detroit Pistons were flying high. Winners in eight of their last nine games and 5 1/2 games clear of Boston in the Eastern Conference, they looked well on their way to becoming a No. 1 seed.
Oops.
Hello, adversity. The Pistons’ season-worst losing streak reached four games on Sunday night, when they fell 121-110 to the Miami Heat — and that comfortable lead atop the East over the Celtics is down to a mere 2 1/2 games.
“It’s the NBA, right? And you look at the season, it’s long,” Pistons coach J.B. Bickerstaff said. “Everybody goes through difficult times or goes through a little bit of a rut. And we just found ours right now. And again, we’ve got plenty of time left to do what we got to do. Boston, obviously, is a good team. But we’re not concerned about Boston. Our biggest concern is making sure we’re doing what we need to do to go out and be as good as we possibly can.”
Before this stretch, Detroit’s longest losing streak of the season was two games. The Pistons were 12-2 immediately after a loss. Granted, three of the four losses in this streak were against good teams — Cleveland, San Antonio and now Miami — with Saturday’s loss against Brooklyn the lone outlier.
Bickerstaff sees it as part of the process. Veteran forward Tobias Harris doesn’t disagree.
“Obviously, it’s probably our biggest dose of adversity all year,” Harris said. “We’ll be fine. Keep our head high and just (move) on to the next. But along this way, along this journey, let’s figure out ways that we can be better as a group.”
Detroit’s rise from the NBA basement two years ago can’t be understated. The Pistons were 14-68 in 2023-24 and then won 44 games and made the playoffs last season. They have already won 45 games this season with 19 remaining.
Most of the players from that 14-win team are long gone. Cade Cunningham and Jalen Duren — who combined for 50 points on Sunday — are among the few holdovers, and Detroit is building around them.
“They’ve built a culture very quickly and the young players that they’ve had that were around two years ago really use that as fuel and motivation,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “But it’s hard to win in this league in general. It is even more of a challenge to win when you have a lot of young players. But I think Cunningham and Duren are wired a little bit differently than most young players.”
Harris said that’s a trend throughout the room. He’s the vet, the oldest player on the roster, but made clear that this Pistons team has the maturity to handle a rough stretch.
“In the locker room, it’s not a joking-around mentality,” Harris said. “We know we’re supposed to win, but we know that we put the work and time into it. So, things are going to work in our favor. We’ll figure it out, and we’ll be right back on a winning streak and be ready, get ready for the playoffs.”
___
AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA
