Eight years have passed since the last time a team went winless for an entire month during an NBA season, as Detroit lost their 16th consecutive game on Thursday. Despite losing 118-112 to New York at the Madison Square Garden, the team truly put up a fight and seemed to have taken a step in the right direction.
Coach Monty Williams said he was proud of his squad, despite falling to an NBA-worst 2-17 on the campaign, becoming the first team since the Philadelphia 76ers lost 16-straight matches in November 2015.
“I saw the fight and resiliency that we can build on,” the veteran trainer assured. “That’s a game that we can build on. I’m not into moral victories. I don’t know where that came from. Doesn’t make sense. But that was something — that game, that output, that energy, production from our group — [that] is something that I’m proud of. That’s the kind of competitive edge that we have to play with every single night.”
The Pistons have lost 16 straight.
Officially winless in November. pic.twitter.com/jNANqN0hAU
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) December 1, 2023
Coming from a 26-point defeat at the hands of the Lakers this Wednesday, the Pistons actually seemed as if they could win it against the Knicks, as they led in the fourth quarter before entering a scoring drought right at the end.
The thing is, details are important. Detroit were outscored by 9 points at the foul line, and also committed 20 turnovers throughout the contest. Despite the defeat, Cade Cummingham told the locker room that “we got our swag back.”
“Yeah, I think it’s something we could definitely build off of,” said the player, who ended the game with 31 points and 8 assists but handed over 7 of those 20 turnovers. “[Wednesday against the Lakers], you have no chance in this league playing like that. But today, that’s got to be our baseline, our minimum, and we can build off of that.”
Monty knew he had to spice things up a bit, a decided to remove both Jaden Ivey and Ausar Thompson from the starting lineup, and place both Killian Hayes and Isaiah Livers.
Coach Williams made important changes to the Detroit starting lineup and believes the team flowed better this way
While Hayes moved Cunningham off the ball and let him concentrate on his offensive responsibilities, Livers gave the Pistons more space on the floor.
“When you lose this many games, you got to make changes,” Williams explained. “We’re not going to leave any stone unturned. We’re going to look at every lineup possible to give ourselves a chance to win games and grow as a team. And so there may be more changes. We’re just going to do everything we can to put the guys in the position to win. And we had a chance tonight.”
As for Ivey and Thompson, they both revealed that whether they start or come off the bench, they will enter the game with the same approach and intensity.
“Not at all,” Ivey said after the contest. “Doesn’t change my mindset at all. Just come in, try to do my job to the best of my abilities. I carry myself with a positive mindset throughout whatever I go through in life. I don’t think this is going to faze me much. It’s part of my journey.”
