Monty Williams

Central Notes: M. Williams, Grimes, Rivers, Mitchell, Garland

After blasting the officiating following Monday’s loss to New York for “the absolute worst call of the season,” Pistons head coach Monty Williams stood by his comments on Tuesday, according to a report from ESPN.com.

I think I said enough last night,” Williams said before Detroit’s win over Chicago. “I’m not of the mindset of creating or building up an argument against the NBA or the officials. I was talking about an isolated incident last night, and I’ll stand on what I said and what I saw after the game. As I told our guys today, we have to move past it but learn from it.”

Given that it’s been nearly two full days since Williams aired his grievances about the officiating, it looks like the NBA has elected not to fine him for those comments.

Here’s more from the Central:

  • Pistons wing Quentin Grimes, who was acquired from New York at the trade deadline, could help solve some of Detroit’s issues, says James L. Edwards III of The Athletic. As Edwards explains, the Pistons previously had a couple of very good wing shooters in Bojan Bogdanovic and Alec Burks who struggled defensively. Grimes, on the other hand, is younger, more athletic, and far superior on defense compared to those two departed veterans, while still being able to space the floor. Edwards highlights (via video) some of Grimes’ impressive defensive techniques and instincts, and thinks the 23-year-old could be a long-term fixture in Detroit moving forward.
  • Speaking of upgrades on defense, Kevin O’Connor of The Ringer details how head coach Doc Rivers has had a positive impact on the Bucks since he replaced Adrian Griffin. According to O’Connor, Milwaukee looks like a much more cohesive unit defensively under Rivers, with game plans that change depending on the matchup. The Bucks only held opponents to under 100 points once in 43 games under Griffin, but have done so four times in the past seven games with Rivers at the helm, O’Connor notes.
  • Various injuries — including a broken jaw — have led to a frustrating season for Cavaliers guard Darius Garland. As Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com writes (in a subscriber-only story), fans have been critical of Garland since he returned to action at the end of last month. After Sunday’s victory over Washington, in which Garland made some key shots to help turn the momentum around, Donovan Mitchell defended his backcourt mate. “The kid has done a lot here,” Mitchell told Fedor. “So much. For it to be devalued all for a few games is complete B.S. It’s not fair to him. He’s done so much for us as a team. Before I got here. While I’ve been here. He’s going to get back to his form. The kid is 24 years old. It’s not always easy to figure out a fit. He has done a phenomenal job of it and will continue to get back to it. Come playoff time, he will be right there with us. We have his back.”

Pistons’ Williams Blasts Refs After Loss For “Worst Call Of The Season”

Two weeks after narrowly losing a game in Houston following a blown last-second call, the Knicks benefited from a missed call late in a two-point home victory over Detroit on Monday.

As Omari Sankofa II of The Detroit Free Press and Tim Bontemps of ESPN detail, the Knicks were trailing 111-110 in the game’s final minute and lost control of the ball with 10 seconds left. As Pistons guard Ausar Thompson began dribbling up the court, Knicks wing Donte DiVincenzo dove into him, jarring the ball loose (Twitter video links). No foul was called on DiVincenzo as the Knicks recovered the loose ball and Josh Hart scored the game-winning basket en route to a 113-111 victory.

“Where’s the New York media now?” Pistons head coach Monty Williams said after the game. “The absolute worst call of the season. No call. And enough’s enough. We’ve done it the right way, we’ve called the league, we’ve sent in clips. We’re sick of hearing the same stuff over and over again. We had a chance to win the game and a guy dove into Ausar’s legs, and it was a no-call.

“That’s an abomination. You cannot miss that in an NBA game, period, and I’m tired of talking about it, I’m tired of our guys asking me, ‘What more can we do, coach?’ That situation is Exhibit A to what we’ve been dealing with all season long, and enough’s enough.

“You cannot dive into a guy’s legs in a big-time game like that and there be a no-call. It’s ridiculous, and we’re tired of it. We just want a fair game called. Period. And I’ve got nothing else to say. We want a fair game, and that was not fair.”

In the pool report conducted by Brian Mahoney of The Associated Press after the game, crew chief James Williams admitted that the officials got the call wrong.

“Upon postgame review, we determined that Thompson gets to the ball first, and then was deprived of the opportunity to gain possession of the ball,” Williams said. “Therefore, a loose ball foul should have been whistled on New York’s Donte DiVincenzo.”

Pistons guard Cade Cunningham described the team as “livid” after the game, while Thompson admitted he was surprised when the play continued without a foul being called.

“I was very confused when I was on the ground and the play kept going, I’m not going to lie,” Thompson said. “But, I mean, that’s how it goes.”

As Sankofa writes, the officiating has been a sore spot for Williams and the Pistons all season — the club has been whistled for an NBA-high 21.9 fouls per game while losing 49 of 57 contests. Still, Williams’ post-game comments on Monday were his strongest indictment yet of a game’s referees and seem likely to warrant the league’s attention.

Williams was fined last March when he was coaching the Suns for his comments about the officiating following a loss to the Lakers, but hasn’t faced any penalties from the league for his comments to the press so far this season. That could change as soon as later today.

Central Notes: Turner, Stewart, Williams, Bulls

Pacers center Myles Turner is the longest-tenured player on the team, having played in Indiana since being drafted in 2015. Fresh off winning the Skills Challenge at All-Star weekend as part of a Pacers trio that also featured Tyrese Haliburton and Bennedict Mathurin, Turner sat down with HoopsHype’s Sam Yip to discuss his career, team and philanthropic efforts.

Honestly, it’s all been a blur,” Turner said of being Indy’s longest-tenured player. “Like for real. I’ve been fortunate enough to spend my entire career here in Indianapolis, and when I see young guys coming in, I just don’t see them lasting more than two or three years. They come in with a lot of hype and whatnot, but then it just dies down.

Turner is averaging 17.2 points, 6.9 rebounds and 1.8 blocks in his ninth season with the team, helping the Pacers to a 31-25 record at the break. With Haliburton and Turner as fixtures, the Pacers have transformed into a playoff contender, virtually removing the big man from trade rumors that have followed him throughout his career.

Honestly, I still got PTSD from that, so I really didn’t even feel super secure at that,” Turner said of those rumors. “I was kinda expecting at least a rumor or something here and there (at this season’s deadline), but I’m just very fortunate to be in the same position. A little bit… I guess you can say that. I think it was just more of that we had a more clear-cut idea of the direction we were going with so it made it easier for me.

Clippers forward Paul George has expressed a desire to remain in Los Angeles but has yet to reach an extension agreement with his current team, and rumors have started to circulate about the possibility of George and Indiana reuniting this offseason. Turner and George played together from 2015-17.

PG was my favorite teammate, personally,” Turner said. “When I first got here to the league, he’s someone who took me under his wing, and obviously he’s one of the most dynamic players that’s out there right now. And I’ve always enjoyed and appreciated his approach to the game, so he’s definitely someone I rock with.

I recommend checking out the rest of Turner and Yip’s conversation here.

We have more notes from the Central Division:

  • Phoenix Municipal Court set a Feb. 23 court date for Pistons center Isaiah Stewart on a misdemeanor assault charge, according to The Athletic’s Shams Charania (Twitter link). Stewart was arrested and issued a citation on Thursday after punching Suns center Drew Eubanks in the face.
  • Even though the Pistons have been improved as of late, the season as a whole has been hard to stomach. Shawn Windsor of Detroit Free Press (subscriber link) argues that Monty Williams‘ rotations are stunting the team’s ability to develop. Windsor asserts that playing all five reserves at a time is a mistake and – despite recent moves – all-bench lineups continue to bleed points. Another questionable decision was to play Killian Hayes, whom the Pistons released at the deadline, over Jaden Ivey, who looks like a long-term fixture, according to Windsor.
  • The Bulls know what they have to do to secure a play-in and potential playoff spot, and DeMar DeRozan expressed confidence in the team’s ability to make a postseason push, Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times writes. “Now we can kind of just breathe a little and gather our minds and emotions,” DeRozan said. “Get some bodies back and get rejuvenated for the next 27 games. We’re going to need to put everything and more into those.

Pistons Owner Expresses Support For GM Troy Weaver

Pistons owner Tom Gores expressed confidence in general manager Troy Weaver during a session with reporters Saturday afternoon in Los Angeles, writes Omari Sankofa II of The Detroit Free Press. There has been speculation that Weaver may be replaced amid a historically bad start to the season, but Gores didn’t provide any indication that he’s considering such a move.

“I think we just came together and the first thing we did is take accountability for the mistakes we made,” Gores responded when asked about Weaver. “As an organization, you really can’t go forward until you acknowledge what didn’t work. That was the first thing. And being honest about that provides you the future. If you don’t look in your past for a little bit and what was right and what was wrong, it’s very hard to go to the future. We did that along the process. I have confidence in Troy. I have confidence. We leaned on each other through this process, but we also didn’t avoid the idea of what were we accountable for? It gave us a pathway to go forward.”

The Pistons still have the league’s worst record at 8-44 after losing to the Clippers today, but Sankofa points out that they have been more competitive recently, going 5-8 since acquiring Mike Muscala and the recently waived Danilo Gallinari from Washington last month. The roster shakeup continued at Thursday’s deadline as Detroit added six new players — Simone Fontecchio, Troy Brown Jr., Shake Milton, Quentin Grimes, Evan Fournier and Malachi Flynn — while parting with veteran shooters Bojan Bogdanovic and Alec Burks, among others.

“We needed to mix up our formation,” Gores explained. “We had to let a few of our players go, all good men. Bojan and Burks contributed a lot to our Pistons. We just needed to change it up a bit and create some more pace-and-space for our young guys. As you know from Troy, we were at it working all last week, so we just needed to, for the sake of the team, let the young guys fly free.”

Today marked Gores’ first public comments on the team since late December when he promised fans that changes were going to be made. In today’s media session, Gores told reporters that he was involved in the process “almost every day.”

“The first month after that, I did a lot of it on a couple days of Zooms and calls and all that stuff,” Gores said. “Over the last 10 days, the team will tell you, Troy will tell you, we had a lot of all-nighters and up really late just making sure we make the right decision for this team. It’s a pivotal moment and you have to know when it’s pivotal. For us, it was important to get the right makeup and I thought we made pretty good moves. We also have a lot of cap space now in the summer, and we gained some good players.”

Gores added that he learned a lot about coach Monty Williams and people throughout the organization by watching how they responded in difficult times. He also indicated that several of Thursday’s additions could be in the Pistons’ long-term plans.

“This is just the beginning, and it’s our responsibility to do this,” Gores said. “We have to learn from what didn’t work, so we have to take that forward now. As I told the team and front office and everyone else that if we don’t win from our losses, then what are we doing? We have to be better because of our losses, and that’s our opportunity.”

Pistons Notes: Blame, Losing Streak, Williams, Improvement

The Pistons are in the midst of the worst losing streak in NBA history and there’s plenty of blame to go around. However, The Athletic’s Sam Vecenie, writing with James L. Edwards III, says the brunt of the responsibility is on the front office. No one move is single-handedly causing this slide, but Detroit’s front office has made several moves that didn’t make sense, according to Vecenie.

One of the Pistons’ main issues on the court is spacing and, last trade deadline, they traded away Saddiq Bey, a career 35.9% three-point shooter, in a deal for James Wiseman. Vecenie also points out the Pistons hurt their future flexibility by trading a highly protected first-round pick (which features protections through 2027) for Isaiah Stewart.

Because of these moves, the Pistons simply don’t have the depth other teams do, Vecenie writes, which has been a factor in the losing streak. Vecenie doesn’t absolve coach Monty Williams, stating the rotations that put franchise centerpiece Cade Cunningham around non-shooters are confusing.

As for the team’s short-term future, the trade deadline is approaching, and Vecenie suggests the Pistons need to target a two-way, hybrid three/four wing like Torrey Craig to help their woes on the perimeter and should only sell Bojan Bogdanovic for a huge haul.

We have more on the Pistons:

  • The Pistons have bigger issues than their record-tying 28-game losing streak, ESPN’s Tim Bontemps writes. According to Bontemps’ sources, the Pistons are viewed as a team with “several stakeholders articulating different visions for the team.” Everyone from Williams to owner Tom Gores to general manager Troy Weaver to vice chairman Arn Tellem is said to have a different outlook for the organization, which hasn’t won a playoff game since 2008/09.
  • While all the Pistons’ power brokers hold some responsibility for the losing streak, The Athletic’s Sam Amick is less critical of Williams, to whom Detroit awarded a six-year, $72MM contract. Williams shouldn’t be in Detroit at all, according to Amick, who says the veteran coach instead deserved to remain in Phoenix, where he became a “fall guy.”
  • The Pistons almost defeated the Celtics on Thursday in a matchup between the teams with the NBA’s best and worst records. Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated writes Detroit showed fight in the overtime loss. “I think it shows we’re on the same level of all the teams we’re playing against,” Cunningham said. “There’s no team I’ve ever come across where I felt like I was going into a slaughterhouse. I’ve never felt like that in my life going into a basketball game…there’s a lot of growth in tonight, some things we can learn from and definitely take into the next game.

Cade: Pistons’ Record-Setting Futility “Weighs On Us Every Day”

The Pistons established a new NBA record on Tuesday night, as the Nets defeated them 118-112. It was Detroit’s 27th loss in a row, the most consecutive losses by any team in a single season in league history.

Cade Cunningham scored 37 second-half points and 41 in all but it still wasn’t enough for the Pistons, who haven’t tasted victory since Oct. 28.

“It weighs on us every day,” he said during the postgame press conference relayed by Bally Sports Detroit (video link).

Coach Monty Williams said the burden of the losing streak has been tough to shoulder.

“It’s been heavy for a while,” he said (BSD video link).

The Pistons tied the record in a 126-115 loss at Brooklyn on Saturday. Their 27-game losing streak surpasses the futility of the 2010/11 Cleveland Cavaliers and 2013/14 Philadelphia 76ers, who each lost 26 straight.

Philadelphia dropped 28 straight across parts of two seasons, at the end of 2014/15 and the beginning of the ’15/16 campaign. The Pistons could tie that record when they visit Boston on Thursday.

The Pistons were outscored by 13 points in the second quarter on Tuesday.

“That’s something that’s plagued us all year long, just having that segment of the game or one quarter that kind of put us in the hole and we just haven’t been able to do enough to overcome,” said Williams, who was signed to a six-year contract by owner Tom Gores during the offseason to bring the franchise back to prominence.

Detroit actually had a five-point lead in the fourth but then gave up 13 unanswered points and couldn’t overcome the deficit.

“We need to continue to lean on each other, and continue to push each other and hold each other accountable more than ever now,” Cunningham said.

Cunningham, who is eligible for a rookie scale extension next offseason, exerted his leadership after the game.

“He showed me even more in the locker room just now,” Williams said. “He talked passionately about the things we need to do and how everybody has to be in the boat and be accountable for where we are. You have to be real about where we are. Nobody wants something like this attached to them. The bottom line is it’s my job, it’s my responsibility. Coaches are graded on their record. That’s the bottom line.”

Gores promised “changes” last week but it remains to be seen what alterations will be made.

Atlantic Notes: Martin, Bridges, Thomas, Tatum

The Sixers have an intriguing trade chip in wing KJ Martin, but he’s hoping to prove that they should keep him around, writes Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer.

“I’ve been traded twice already, so I feel like I have an understanding [that] stuff happens for a reason,” Martin said. “If I stay here, then hopefully, you know, I’m trying to get the opportunity to show what I can do. You feel me? I never am the type of person to be super, super down on myself about stuff that I really can’t control.”

Martin’s minutes have been significantly reduced, now that he’s playing on a legitimate contender. He started 49 of 82 games for Houston last season, but is averaging only 5.5 minutes in 15 appearances with Philadelphia.

“Obviously, it’s an adjustment,” Martin said. “Last season, I played 29, 30 minutes a game. So that’s the only tough thing about it. I have 200-plus games under my belt at this point and I just want to go out and compete.”

There’s more out of the Atlantic Division:

  • Nets forward Mikal Bridges recently voiced his sympathy towards his former Suns head coach Monty Williams, now coaching the Pistons through a 26-game losing streak, writes Mark W. Sanchez of The New York Post. “Definitely wouldn’t want that on anybody, especially not Mont,” Bridges said. “Such a great dude and works so hard and really good coach. So it’s tough… That’s my guy. Obviously, I don’t want him losing like this.” 
  • The Nets beat the Pistons 126-115 on Saturday, which gave Detroit an NBA record-tying 26-game losing streak. Nets guard Cam Thomas acknowledged in a postgame interview with the YES Network (YouTube video link via ESPN) that Brooklyn does not want to be the club that the Pistons beat to end their losing streak. “Obviously, you don’t want to be that team [to lose to Detroit], so we just wanted to come out, be aggressive and try to get a win tonight,” Thomas said. Brooklyn will face Detroit again on Tuesday.
  • Celtics All-NBA forward Jayson Tatum is doing his darnedest to play through a painful sprained ankle for the East’s No. 1 seed, writes Jared Weiss of The Athletic. He missed one contest with the injury, against the Kings, before returning for a blowout win over the Clippers on Saturday. “I’ve been out for three days, and I don’t like missing games,” Tatum said. “So I was excited to get back out there with the team and play today.”

Pistons Notes: Losing Streak, Trade Market, Weaver, Harris

The Pistons keep making the wrong kind of history as their losing streak has now reached record territory, writes Brian Mahoney of The Associated Press. Detroit dropped its 26th consecutive game Saturday night in Brooklyn, moving into a tie with the 2010/11 Cavaliers and 2013/14 Sixers for the longest single-season slide in NBA history.

There are no obvious win opportunities on the horizon as the team prepares for a rematch with the Nets on Tuesday, followed by a trip to Boston on Thursday. Two more losses would tie the Pistons with Philadelphia for the league’s longest losing streak of any kind, which was set during the 2014/15 and 2015/16 seasons.

“Everybody wants to win, everybody hates losing, so it’s hard,” Cade Cunningham said. “We’ve got to be realistic as well. Can’t just keep saying the same things over and over, like we’ll get the next one. There has to be like a plan of action, so we’re just trying to figure that out.”

Detroit stayed close for much of Saturday’s game, trailing by just two points midway through the third quarter before Brooklyn pulled away. Mahoney notes that familiar mistakes were a problem again for a team that commits the most fouls per game at 22.8 and ranks 29th in turnovers at 16.6 per night.

“We had a lot of tough breaks this year, but I try not to look at life that way. It just happens,” coach Monty Williams said. “When you turn it over 14 times you don’t expect 22 points, but it happens. Those live turnovers, they’re basketball death for possessions and we’ve had a lot of those this year.”

There’s more on the Pistons:

  • Detroit needs to be active on the trade market, not only to stop the losing streak but to get the franchise moving in the right direction, contends James L. Edwards of The Athletic. Owner Tom Gores vowed this week that changes are coming, and Edwards believes the current team relies too heavily on young players without enough veterans to teach them how to succeed.
  • Omari Sankofa II of The Detroit Free Press offers similar advice, stating that general manager Troy Weaver has placed too much emphasis on preserving cap space and not enough on acquiring talent. Sankofa hears that the front office is prioritizing veterans in trade talks and is hoping to “address glaring areas of need.” Those are numerous, he adds, as the current roster doesn’t have enough shooting, depth or defensive prowess. Sources tell Sankofa that ownership doesn’t plan an immediate move involving Weaver or anyone on the coaching staff, with the trade market being viewed as the best source of help.
  • Saturday marked an emotional return to Brooklyn for Joe Harris, who was traded to Detroit this summer after spending seven seasons with the Nets, per Mark W. Sanchez of The New York Post. “[Brooklyn] means everything,” Harris said. “This is literally where I developed into an NBA player — here. If it wasn’t for my stop in Brooklyn, I’m not sure I’d be in a similar spot. You like to think that you would, but there’s a lot of dots that gotta be connected.”

Pistons Owner Tom Gores: “We Will Make Changes”

After the Pistons inched closer to making the wrong kind of history by losing to the depleted Jazz on Thursday night, Pistons owner Tom Gores spoke to select media to address Detroit’s current 25-game skid.

I think [the fans] deserve an answer,” Gores said in a Q&A with The Athletic’s James L. Edwards III and others.

While the Pistons weren’t expected to be a contender this season, they were hoping to take steps toward being a more competitive team. Clubs such as the Magic and Thunder have catapulted themselves into playoff contention this year behind young cores, and while the Pistons were definitely a tier below those two, the goal was to at least vie for a play-in spot following four straight seasons with 23 or fewer wins.

Detroit hired Monty Williams, who oversaw Phoenix’s transformation into a contender from a rebuilding team, and got former No. 1 overall pick Cade Cunningham back from injury. The Pistons also have multiple promising young players, including Jalen Duren, Ausar Thompson and Jaden Ivey. Despite making what seemed like decent moves on paper, they never addressed their three-point shooting and are the worst team in the league in that regard. Now, rather than taking a leap forward, they’ve regressed and are at the lowest point of their rebuild.

However, Gores still believes in the future of the team and sees the Pistons as having the flexibility to improve moving forward.

So, as much as this vision feels blurry, to me, it’s the same vision I had at the beginning of the season about a bright future,” Gores said. “… We have an incredible set of young players. We’ve built ourselves to be flexible and nimble, so we’re not stuck in this problem. We have a problem. We’ve lost way too many games. We’re not stuck in it, though. We’re nimble. We can bounce from this. We have a tremendous amount of cap space.

Despite his optimistic outlook on the franchise’s overall health, Gores insisted that changes are imminent.

We require change,” Gores said. “We’re not doing well. As far as where we were going in getting this set of players and flexibility, I think the work is still there. We have to assess what’s not working. I’m down to Monty and I talking about rotations. I don’t normally do that. Monty is so good and knows what’s he doing, he’s open to even talking about it. We do have to change something. I can’t tell you what it exactly is. … We’re on it already. We will make changes. We will make them. We don’t know exactly what they’ll be yet.

While he was unwilling to commit to specific changes, Gores said they’ll have to be made “in the near future.” He also went on to say that a successful season would be getting wins and keeping the health of the young core in tact. However, Gores was clear he wants changes to extend to the roster as well.

I expect [general manager] Troy [Weaver] to find ways to change the makeup of our team and find ways to be more successful,” Gores said. “I do expect him to find ways, and he knows that. If we do nothing to improve ourselves, I’m going to be disappointed. That’s nothing new to Troy. He knows that.

Gores ended the interview by shutting down outside perceptions that there are voices moving in different directions within the organization, as well as they idea that he’d sell the team, as fans chanted on Thursday.

They can say what they want, but that’s ridiculous,” Gores said. “Other than winning — and we should win more games — we do a lot in the community. Players, the organization, we do a lot in the community. If you put aside winning, we’ve made a very big difference in the community. That means a lot to me. I understand that’s only going to mean a lot to people if we win, but the underworking of what’s happening and with our community, over all these years, is there. We’re doing multibillion-dollar things outside of (basketball). I understand the fans being upset, but it’s a ridiculous thought.

Pistons’ Cunningham: No Way Are We “2-26 Bad”

The Pistons are one loss away from tying the all-time single-season record for most losses in a row after dropping their 25th straight to the depleted Jazz on Thursday night.

Playing without Lauri Markkanen, Keyonte George, Jordan Clarkson, Talen Horton-Tucker and Omer Yurtseven, the Jazz defeated the Pistons 119-111, as Detroit’s woes off the bench and from beyond the arc continued. Still, Cade Cunningham believes the Pistons can turn it around with this group.

We’re not 2-26 bad,” Cunningham said (Twitter link via The Athletic’s James L. Edwards III. “No way are we that bad. So, yes, I think we can turn it around. I think we can play a much better brand of basketball — executing game plan, not turning it over, keeping your man in front of you. I was the head of that snake. This isn’t about the system. This is about the players and what we’re doing on the floor. Those three things aren’t about a system.

As Spotrac’s Keith Smith observes (Twitter link), the Pistons are not only just one game from tying the single-season record of 26 straight losses, they’re also three losses from tying the all-time longest losing streak, a record the Sixers hold from when they lost 28 straight across the 2014/15 and ’15/16 seasons.

It’s definitely on my mind,” Cunningham said of approaching the record (Twitter link via Omari Sankofa II of the Detroit Free Press. “That’s history that nobody wants to be a part of. We’re trying to build something that’s sustainable. It’s not like we’re just trying to win one game. We want to win multiple games.

Things are at a breaking point in Detroit. As captured by NBA on ESPN (YouTube link), Pistons fans erupted in “sell the team” chants during the game.

To their credit, coach Monty Williams and Cunningham both have taken full responsibility. For a coach in his first year with a team and a young player in what’s essentially his second NBA season, it’s telling that neither have pointed blame elsewhere.

I want to be careful with my words because this one hurts more than most of them,” Williams said (Twitter link via Sankofa). “A team that played last night gets 30 points off turnovers and rebounds. This one is unbelievably hard to understand how we can get outworked in those categories. That is absolutely on me.

The Pistons next play the Nets in back-to-back games before facing the Celtics and the Raptors. They have four chances to avoid taking sole possession of the worst losing streak in NBA history.

To be on the wrong side of history, nobody wants to be there,” Cunningham said (Twitter link via Sankofa). “That is definitely an extra edge that we have to have, and we should’ve won this game. We didn’t, so gotta come back next game and be locked in. I gotta come in and be locked in and more solid down the stretch.