Going into the 2023-2024 NBA season, the Detroit Pistons’ future was looking bright. Third-year point guard Cade Cunningham was back from injury and ready to take that next step into NBA stardom. Shooting guard Jaden Ivey was entering his second year after a successful rookie season. They had recently drafted defensive forward Ausar Thompson with the fifth overall pick. The Pistons’ young players looked to take that next leap forward to becoming a playoff team.
Pistons started the season off stronger than years past, with a 2-1 record with blowout wins against the Chicago Bulls and Charlotte Hornets and a tough one-point loss against the Eastern Conference Champions Miami Heat. Cunningham averaged 23 points per game during that stretch, Thompson’s defensive prowess was in full swing and the rest of the roster were putting in good minutes as the Pistons looked to exceed expectations this season.
That was where all the high hopes would stop though as a loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder would spark infamy. Following that loss, the Pistons would proceed to lose their next 27 straight games by an average margin of 13 points. This streak would beat out the previous longest in-season losing streak of 26 straight losses set by the 2010-2011 Cleveland Cavaliers in their first year without Lebron James and the 2013-2014 Philadelphia 76ers during their first tanking seasons.
There was hope though as during many of these games, Cunningham was playing great and the team kept the games close, they just were unable to finish out some games, with many blown leads. They even took the championship favorite, Boston Celtics, to overtime in a game that they would end up losing, marking their 28th straight.
The streak would finally snap on Dec. 30 2023 as the Pistons hosted the Toronto Raptors at home. Led by Cunningham’s 36, the rest of the starters were able to put in double-digit points of their own while also being aided by a spark plug off the bench in Alec Burks with 16 points of his own, finally snapping the streak of 28 straight losses.
