The Detroit Pistons on Saturday avoided an unwanted record when they ended their 28-game losing streak with a 129-127 win over the Toronto Raptors.
The Pistons had equaled the record losing streak of the Philadelphia 76ers with their loss to the Boston Celtics on Thursday. The 76ers had a 28-game skid spanning the 2014-2015 and 2015-2016 seasons.
Detroit’s dismal run was the longest single-season losing streak in NBA history, but a first win since October ensured they avoided another miserable milestone.
Photo: AP
Cade Cunningham’s 30 points and 12 assists helped Detroit recapture the winning feeling, and although a three-pointer from Gary Trent with a second remaining narrowed the deficit, it was too late for a Raptors comeback.
Pistons head coach Monty Williams said the scenes in the locker room after the win were special.
“Guys were screaming, I was almost in tears. I’m just so happy for our guys, I’m happy for everybody in the locker-room,” he said.
“I’ve been in a ton of locker rooms my whole life and that’s a first for me to have that kind of, it wasn’t relief, it was just like: ‘Thank God, finally,’” Williams added.
Williams, last year’s NBA Coach of the Year, said he hoped the win would prove to be a turning point for his team.
“Sometimes it just takes a win like that to get things started, and I just have so much respect for our team,” he said.
“I think people may have thought that they were okay with losing, but they came in every day with a great spirit, and they wanted answers. They came in wanting to learn and try to get better,” Williams said. “So I just respect the heck out of our guys. Really happy that we finally got a win, because it’s so hard to win in this league.”
Meanwhile, LeBron James experienced defeat on his 39th birthday as the Los Angeles Lakers were beaten 108-106 at the Minnesota Timberwolves.
James, who was on court for 39 minutes, put up 26 points on 10 of 21 shooting from the field with Anthony Davis top scoring for the Lakers with 33 points, 17 rebounds and eight assists.
With 3.1 seconds remaining, James thought he had tied the game at 107-107 with a three-point throw right on the line of the arc, but to his frustration the referee ruled it to be only a two-point effort.
Anthony Edwards, who top scored for Minnesota with 31 points, added a point from the free-throw line before James was off-target with an attempted buzzer beater.
The Miami Heat’s four-game winning streak came to an end with a 117-109 defeat at the Utah Jazz.
With Most Valuable Player Joel Embiid still missing with an ankle injury, Philadelphia, third in the East, lost 105-92 loss at the Chicago Bulls.
The Indiana Pacers beat the New York Knicks 140-126 with 22 points and a franchise record-equaling 23 assists from Tyrese Haliburton.
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