The Sixers are aware of the Detroit Pistons’ desperation to win — but they don’t fear it

The Pistons are losers of 21 straight games. The Sixers aren't worried about losing to the hapless Pistons and becoming the team to break their streak.

by Keith Pompey

Published Dec. 15, 2023, 5:00 a.m. ET

The 76ers organization understands the pressure the Detroit Pistons — losers of 21 straight games — amid mounting defeats.

During the 2013-14 season, the Sixers matched the record for consecutive single-season losses by an NBA team with 26 in a row while tanking. Their setback to the Houston Rockets on March 27, 2014, at the Toyota Center matched the futility established by the Cleveland Cavaliers during the 2010-11 season.

Ten seasons later, Detroit (2-22) is closing in on that record.

The Sixers (16-7) handed the Pistons their latest loss, 129-111, Wednesday night at Little Caesars Arena in the opener of a home-and-home series. The teams will play again Friday night at the Wells Fargo Center.

Detroit takes the NBA’s sixth-longest single-season losing streak into that game.

Detroit has not won since Cade Cunningham’s 25-point, 10-assist performance in a blowout of the Chicago Bulls on Oct. 28.

“I don’t want anyone to be happy in this situation,” Pistons coach Monty Williams said. “I want to see an ornery locker room that’s tired — not just of losing, but tired of missing shots and tired of giving up 39-point quarters.”

The aforemented Sixers and Cavs squads along with the 1995-96 Vancouver Grizzlies, 1997-98 Denver Nuggets and 2011-12 Charlotte Bobcats, who all lost 23 straight games, are among the teams that have lost more consecutive games than the Pistons.

The Sixers snapped their skid with a 123-98 victory over none other than the Pistons on March 29, 2014.

Can the Pistons do a turnabout Friday night?

Marcus Morris Sr. stressed that the Sixers are focused on themselves, not avoiding the infamy they would receive by being the team lost to Pistons. They want to continue their inner work and avoid taking their opponent for granted.

“Honestly, we never even really talked about it,” Morris said. “More so just coming out and doing what we do, working on us. Obviously, we should beat a team that lost 21 in a row.

“For them, they’re actually not a bad team. They had a lot of injuries, getting some guys back. They are trying to gel. They got a really good coach over there. I hope that they get an opportunity to turn that around.”

Former Roman Catholic standout and Pistons center Jalen Duren (left ankle sprain), guard Monte Morris (right quadriceps strain), and post player Marvin Bagley III (right lower back sprain) remain sidelined.

While the Sixers organization can relate to the Pistons’ issues and hopes to turn things around, the current players don’t have hands-on experience. None of the current Sixers were members of the 2013-14 team. Joel Embiid, the longest-tenured Sixer, was selected third overall in the 2014 draft and missed his first two seasons because of foot surgeries.

The seasons Embiid watched were marked with issues, though. The Sixers hold the overall mark of 28 losses, set at the end of the 2014-15 season and start of the 2015-16 campaign. The Sixers concluded the 2014-15 season with 10 consecutive losses and began the 2015-16 season with 18. (The 2015-16 team finished the season with a 10-72 record.)

Robert Covington was a member of those squads. He was traded to the Timberwolves on Nov. 12, 2018. The Sixers reacquired him from the Los Angeles Clippers last month in the trade that sent James Harden to L.A.

“For us, we feel like we got to win the ones that we need to win,” De’Anthony Melton said of the Sixers’ mindset. “And we have to win in a fashion that we want to. So beating a team twice in a row is always going to be tough.

“So we expect them to come out there and play harder. ... We expect them to step up. But at the same time, we got to get better, too.”