Pistons snap 28-game skid, end year with a bang

DETROIT — The Detroit Pistons avoided an unwanted record when they ended their 28-game losing streak with a 129-127 win over the Toronto Raptors on Saturday.

The Pistons had equalled the record losing streak of the Philadelphia 76ers with their loss to the Boston Celtics on Thursday.

The 76ers had a 28-game skid spanning the 2014-15 and 2015-16 seasons.

Detroit’s dismal run was the longest single-season losing streak in NBA history but a first win since October ensured the Pistons avoided another miserable milestone.

Cade Cunningham’s 30 points and 12 assists helped Detroit recapture the winning feeling and although a three pointer from Gary Trent with a second remaining narrowed the deficit it was too late for a Raptors comeback.

Pistons head coach Monty Williams said the scenes in the locker-room after the win had been special.

“Guys were screaming, I was almost in tears. I’m just so happy for our guys, I’m happy for everybody in the locker-room,” he said.

“I’ve been in a ton of lockerrooms my whole life and that’s a first for me to have that kind of, it wasn’t relief, it was just like, ‘Thank God, finally’,” added Williams.

Williams, the 2022 NBA Coach of the Year, said he hoped the win would prove to be a turning point for his team.