The season of infamous records continues for the Detroit Pistons after setting another in a 125-107 loss to the Chicago Bulls. Thursday night's blowout officially solidified that the 2023-24 Pistons will finish with the all-time franchise-worst record.
The record was previously held by the 1979-80 Pistons who ended their season with a 16-66 record. This year's team currently stands with a 13-67 record and only two regular season games left.
Detroit has struggled all season to build positive momentum courtesy of injuries, high roster turnover, and the consistent problems of a young team learning to win. In their first year under head coach Monty Williams, the Pistons have stamped many other forgettable accomplishments. Detroit has also set new records for most consecutive regular-season losses with 28 games and most players used on the roster with 31 players.
General manager Troy Weaver set an expectation this past offseason for the Pistons to play meaningful games throughout this year. The lack of consistency throughout the franchise limited their chance of making that goal a reality.
Defense and turnovers lead to another Pistons blowout
The same issues have plagued the Pistons all season in a majority of their losses. Losing their home finale had similar traces as Detroit had problems slowing down the Bulls offensively and taking care of the basketball.
The Pistons turned the basketball over 20 times which led to 36 Bulls points off turnovers and 58 points in the paint. This has been a common struggle all season as Detroit has committed the second most turnovers averaging 15.3 a game. Williams commented on how crippling the turnovers can be for an inexperienced team, via Bally Sports Detroit.
“The turnovers can be fixed. I’ve seen it before. I believe there are so many players in and players out — there's no continuity out there,” Williams said. “So, some guys are not spaced properly and sometimes we’re playing in the crowd.”
“Tonight was one of those nights where the ball sticks more than usual. I don’t want to take away from their aggressiveness,” Williams continued. “There is a lot you can learn at this time of year. I earned a lot of money playing down the stretch and playing the right way. I want to see integrity and character from a basketball perspective from our guys.”
Bulls forward DeMar DeRozan led all scorers in the contest with 39 points. Center Nikola Vucevic recorded a double-double finishing with 27 points and grabbing 11 rebounds. Williams also commented on the difficulty of slowing down DeRozan when he's in a zone.
“It’s tough to stay in front of him. He added the three-ball to his game and you’re closing out to a guy that can shoot the mid-range,” Williams stated. “We shifted off of him too far tonight. He’s a really tough cover.”
Five different players finished scoring in double-digits in the loss for Detroit. Jalen Duren and Marcus Sasser led the Pistons in scoring with 20 points each. Jaden Ivey finished right behind with 16 points in 30 minutes.
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