A little over a year ago, we were monitoring Detroit’s Pistons while trying to avoid the longest losing run in NBA history. That streak finally extended to an unfathomable 28 games, the streak of a longer season that the League has seen and tied for a longer time in general, since the Philadelphia 76ers coincided in two years. That streak was such a low point that the Pistons fired coach Monty Williams only one year in a six -year contract and $ 78.5 million.
What a difference can make a year.
The Pistons entered Wednesday in search of a milestone streak, but this time, it was to win, not lose. And with their emphatic victory by 117-97 over defending champion Boston Celtics, the Pistons won their eighth consecutive victory. That makes this the longest winning streak for the Pistons in 17 years, matching a streak that took place in January and February 2008.
Cunningham’s Cunningham starting to resemble All-Nba, since the growing Detroit wins seventh consecutive
Brad Botkin
Not a single pistons player of that streak is still active in the NBA, and no Pistons player in the current team was active at that time. He arrived so long that the core of his 2004 championship team of Chaunley Billups, Richard Hamilton, Tayshaun Prince and Rasheed Wallace were still in their place. That Pistons team reached the Eastern Conference finals.
This still has a way to go before reaching those heights, but at this point, they can no longer be treated as a promising youth group. Detroit now has 24-11 in its last 35 games, a better record than the New York Knicks No. 3 in that period.
Cade Cunningham is on their way to an All-NBA selection, and JB BickerStaff, fired by the Cavaliers last spring, has a real opportunity to win the coach of the year.
The question now is how long the streak can last. And if Detroit can survive a visit from the Nuggets on Friday, there is a lot of space for him to grow.
His next two games after that come against Nets and Jazz, which should be quite gainable. That jazz game starts a road trip on the west coast against solid but non -overwhelming opponents: the clippers, Warriors and Trail Blazers. They follow that trip with two games against the Wizards, so do not wait for Detroit to cool in the short term.
The longest winning streak in the history of the franchise is 13 games, and breaking it would contribute largely to erase the 28 losses debacle last season.
