Posted on: November 27, 2023, 10:32h.
Last updated on: November 27, 2023, 11:48h.
The Detroit Pistons recently extended their losing streak to 13 in a row. But they’re a betting favorite to end their skid Monday night when they host the slumping Washington Wizards.
The Wizards have lost nine games in a row and they’re on the verge of reaching a double-digit losing streak.
The Pistons and Wizards are both 2-14 and are tied for the worst record in the NBA this season. The NBA doesn’t have ties, so one of those bad teams will secure a win on Monday night.
Even with a 13-game losing streak looming ahead, the Pistons are a -3 betting favorite against the visiting Wizards.
Pistons New Coach Not Freaking Out … Yet
The Pistons hired Monty Williams as their new head coach and made him the highest-paid coach in the league. The front office tasked Williams with turning around the franchise. Williams inherited the worst team in the NBA that won only 17 games last season.
Williams is focused on getting his team to execute better in big spots.
Turnovers have plagued us for a while and we’ve got to rectify it,” said Williams. “We’ve talked about this as a team. There’s a sliver of time in every game where it’s like three or four minutes where you turn it over or give up offensive rebounds. Now, we have to go out and execute in those pivotal moments in the game.”
The Pistons averaged only 20 wins per season over their previous four seasons. They were the worst team in the Eastern Conference twice in the last three seasons.
The Pistons advanced to the playoffs only three times in the last 15 years and were swept in the first round in all three instances.
The Pistons haven’t won a playoff game since the 2007-08 season, when they advanced to the Eastern Conference finals for a sixth-straight season. During that prominent stretch in the early 2000s, the Pistons reached the NBA Finals twice and won a championship in the 2003-04 season under head coach Larry Brown.
Cade Cunningham: ‘We’re Bad’
The Pistons are currently ranked #22 in scoring defense, allowing 117.2 points per game. Their offense averages 109.8 points per game, ranked #25 overall.
The Pistons allowed opponents to score 120 or more points eight times during their losing streak. They reached the 120-point mark only once during that span.
Point guard Cade Cunningham, the #1 pick in the 2021 NBA Draft, leads the Pistons in scoring this season. He’s averaging a career-best 22 points and 7.1 assists per game in his third season while shooting a career-high 33% from 3-point range. Despite his solid stats, Cunningham isn’t happy about the losing streak.
We got to be realistic about the situation,” Cunningham said in an interview with The Athletic. “It’s hard to just be like, ‘We’re good,’ you know what I’m saying? Because we’re bad. We have to address that. We have to address what we’re not good at. Address it with not only our words, but on the court, in the huddles.”
The young Pistons have yet to find a consistent secondary scorer. Center Jalen Duran (12.7 points per game) is second on the team in scoring, followed by guards Alex Burks (12.5 ppg) and Jaden Ivey (12.5 ppg).
Rookie forward Ausar Thompson, the fifth-overall pick in the 2023 NBA Draft, averages 11.1 points and 9.8 rebounds per game.
Wizards Drop 9 in Row
The Wizards are rebuilding after they traded All-Star shooting guard Bradley Beal to the Phoenix Suns in the off-season. Without Beal, they lost their team’s leading scorer and rudder.
The Suns shipped future Hall of Fame point guard Chris Paul to the Wizards in the Beal trade. But Paul was on the roster for less than two weeks before he was traded again. The Wizards traded Paul to the Golden State Warriors for shooting guard Jordan Poole.
Poole has been slow to adapt to his new team. He’s averaging 17.7 points and 3.6 assists per game with the Wizards, but he’s only shooting 28.6% from 3-point range. Poole averaged 20.4 points and 4.5 assists per game with the Warriors last season.
Poole twisted his ankle in a loss against the Milwaukee Bucks on Friday. He sat out Saturday’s loss against the Indiana Pacers, and he’s expected to miss Monday night’s game.
Swingman Corey Kispert (10.7 points per game) started on Saturday, and rookie guard Bilal Coulibaly (8.3 points per game) also saw an uptick in playing time with Poole sidelined.
Without Poole in the lineup, the Wizards are on the verge of losing 10 games in a row.
Keep Fading the Bottom-Feeders
Through the first 16 games this season, five teams have a winning percentage below .250, including the Portland Trail Blazers (.250), the Memphis Grizzlies (.188), the San Antonio Spurs (.176), the Pistons (.125), and the Wizards (.125).
Four losing squads are at the bottom of DraftKings’ NBA futures board. The Pistons, Wizards, Spurs, and Trail Blazers are +100000 odds to win the 2023-24 NBA Championship.
The Trail Blazers (4-12) won only a quarter of their games this season during a rebuilding season. They traded All-Star guard Damian Lillard to the Milwaukee Bucks and flipped point guard Jrue Holiday to the Boston Celtics.
The Spurs (3-14) have been must-see TV since they selected French teenage sensation Victor Wembanyama as the #1 pick in the 2023 NBA Draft. But they’ve only won three games.
The Grizzlies are tied for the second-worst betting record this season with a 5-11 clip against the point spread. The Spurs are right behind them at 6-11 ATS. The Pistons, Wizards, and Trail Blazers also have a losing ATS record at 7-9.
During their 13-game streak, the Pistons are 4-9 ATS. The Wizards are 3-6 ATS during their nine-game skid.
