It was a familiar ending for the Detroit Pistons. But the path to get there was still one of their better efforts of the season.
They faced the NBA’s best team, the Boston Celtics, on the road and went toe-to-toe with them for most of the game at TD Garden. But it was another collapse for the Pistons, who led by 21 points in the second quarter and by 19 points at halftime before giving up a massive run that gave the Celtics a four-point lead early in the fourth quarter, and, eventually, a 128-122 victory in overtime.
The loss extends the Pistons’ losing streak to 28 games, an NBA record for a single-season skid. It also ties them with the 2014-15/2015-16 Philadelphia 76ers for the longest overall skid. (Those 76ers lost 10 games to finish the ’14-15 season and 18 to start the ’15-16 campaign.) The Pistons can claim the record outright with a loss in their next game, Saturday night against the Toronto Raptors at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit.
“As bad as they hurt right now, I hurt for them,” Pistons coach Monty Williams said. “But I told them: ‘If we bring that kind of toughness and execution — minus the turnovers — we’re not just going to win one game. We’re going to put something together.”
Cade Cunningham continued his hot streak with 31 points and nine assists — scoring 22 points in the first half — but also had six turnovers. Jaden Ivey (22 points) and Bojan Bogdanovic (17 points, 12 rebounds) hit big shots late, and Jalen Duren (15 points, 14 rebounds) helped the Pistons stay competitive late by controlling the offensive glass.
With Isaiah Stewart in street clothes due to a sprained toe, Williams debuted a new starting lineup — Cunningham, Ivey, Bogdanovic, Duren and Kevin Knox. The group had immediate chemistry on both ends of the floor — at least, early on — enabling the Pistons to build an early double-digit lead before ending the first quarter with a 30-27 lead. A 36-20 second quarter sent the Pistons into halftime with a 66-47 lead.
But the Celtics, who have not lost on their home court in the regular season since March, would not be denied.
Detroit has been plagued by cold spells during their historic losing streak. They might’ve had their worst of the season on Thursday, following arguably their best first half. Boston outscored the Pistons 35-16 in the third, shooting 13-for-19 as the Pistons looked lethargic on both ends.
The run tied the game at 82 entering the fourth, and a pair of Derrick White baskets gave Boston a four-point advantage early in the period.
“We’re on the same level as all these teams we’re playing against,” Cunningham said. “There’s no team that I’ve ever come across in the NBA where I felt like I was going into a slaughterhouse. I’ve never felt like that in my life, going into a basketball game.
“So every game we should be able to fight teams and impose our will on them. We did that early on. We kind of let go of the rope a little bit in the third quarter. But there’s a lot of growth, and something we can learn from and definitely take to the next game.”
A pair of 3-pointers from Cunningham and Alec Burks allowed Detroit to bounce back from Boston’s huge run. That was followed by a late 10-0 Celtics run that threatened to put the game away, as a deep 3-pointer by Kristaps Porzingis (who led all scorers with 35 points) extended Boston’s lead to six, 106-100. But Ivey answered with two of the biggest shots of the night, finishing a three-point play and connecting on a corner 3-pointer to tie the game.
Cunningham was whistled for a goaltend on a layup attempt by Jayson Tatum (31 points) with 8.1 seconds to go, but Bogdanovic tipped in Cunningham’s missed 3 on the other end to tie the game with 4.1 seconds remaining. Tatum’s contested jumper missed, sending the game into overtime.
The Celtics clinched the game with a 10-2 run that gave them a six-point advantage, 123-117, with 45 seconds remaining. A missed step-back 3 by Bogdanovic led to an easy fast-break dunk for Porzingis, and Isaiah Livers missed a pair of free throws on the following possession with just under 30 seconds left.
“I’m not interested in just winning one more game this year — you know what I mean? To stop this. That would be soft, in my opinion,” Cunningham said. ‘Our goals are a lot higher than that. We have what it takes to win a game, that’s nothing. But to put games together, to find our system, find what’s clicking and allow us to sustain winning. That’s all we’re looking for.”