Sports Editorial (USA), Dec 28 (EFE).- There is no possible consolation for the Pistons.
After becoming the worst team in NBA history in a campaign with 27 consecutive losses, Detroit added number 28 this Thursday in a game in which it achieved a miracle against the Boston Celtics but fell in overtime 128-122.
The new disappointment for this team in ruins but which today gave an admirable and tremendously meritorious image against the best team in the league, led the Pistons to reach the last frontier they had left in their collapse: that of the 28 consecutive defeats they accumulated the Philadelphia 76ers from 2014-2015 and 2015-2016 counting the end of one season and the beginning of the next.
Furthermore, the appalling 2-29 record leaves Detroit with a winning percentage of .064 while the worst teams in league history at the end of the regular season were the 2011-2012 Charlotte Bobcats (7-59 and . 106 in a lockout-shortened season) and the 1972-1973 Philadelphia 76ers (9-73 and .110).
The next opportunity to reverse his streak will be Saturday in Detroit and against the Toronto Raptors (12-18).
For their part, the Celtics (24-6) saved a duel in which they were on the ropes against the Pistons who threatened the unbeaten status of TD Garden (now 15-0), so much so that the Motown team was leading by 21 points in the second quarter and they went into halftime with a 19 lead.
However, they ran into a lethal Kristaps Porzingis who added 29 points between the second half and overtime to end Detroit’s miracle.
The Latvian scored a total of 35 points and 8 rebounds. Along with him, Jayson Tatum (31 points, 7 rebounds and 10 assists) and Derrick White (23 points) were the best for the locals.
For the Pistons, five players scored double figures with Cade Cunningham as the top scorer with 31 points, 6 rebounds and 9 assists. Bojan Bogdanovic also had a special shine (17 points, 12 rebounds and 6 assists), who served as leader in the second half.
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Detroit surprises…
Detroit showed in the first minutes the personality that has been so demanded of it with a very effective Cunningham near the rim and who quickly went up to 8 points.
The Pistons’ maximum reached 11 points (17-28) at two and a half to end the first quarter. Good defense and knowing how to run was the recipe for the Pistons, added to the lack of success from the perimeter by the Celtics with a 3 of 13 in triples.
A turnover festival by the Pistons reminded those present why they are the worst team in the NBA and allowed Boston to close with a 10-2 run. The first block closed with a tied 27-30 for Monty Williams’ team.
A triple by Payton Pritchard right after the game resumed put the Celtics ahead for the first time of the night. He was the only one in the entire second quarter for a disastrous balance of 11 attempts from outside the line.
When it seemed that the Celtics were taking control of the game, a new run, this time 6-24 by Detroit, began to make Joe Mazzulla’s team blush. They were moments for Cunningham to shine with hardly any errors in his pitches.
Unusual performances were seen in those in green. Tatum added only 4 points in this stretch, and neither Porzingis, nor White, nor Al Horford scored on the way to halftime, closing the halfway point of the game with a surprising 47-66 for the Pistons.
…and Boston wakes up
The Celtics were forced to put on their fatigues on a night that many considered calm. They knew how to find advantages in the centimeters of Porzingis with 12 points and the rebirth of Tatum with 11. Detroit’s doubts reappeared.
It all came down to a five-minute crush to endorse a resounding 23-7 that put Boston back within one point (76-77) with less than five to go before the conclusion of the third quarter. With 82-82 the final period was reached.
The Celtics won the initiative again with a first basket by White. Since the second quarter they didn’t have it. But once there, it didn’t look like the Pistons were going to let the game slip away so easily and Bogdanovic took over.
Given the fall of Cunningham with only 4 points in the second half, the Croatian tried to organize his team and generate advantages. Victory in such an emblematic setting was beginning to be a real option and there could be no better way to break such a disastrous crisis of results.
The first to cross the 100-point threshold were the Pistons with less than five to go. Nerves began to take over the stands even though Porzingis remained intractable. It was almost a personal matter for the Latvian not to give in to this rival and his audience. He went up to 11 points in the last quarter.
At 103-100, Porzingis hit another triple to put a 6-point lead with less than two minutes left, thus sealing an almost definitive 10-0. Williams was forced to call a timeout.
Detroit’s response was unbecoming of the NBA’s worst team at 6-0; all the points achieved by Jaden Ivey with a two plus one and a triple. Then Bogdanovic himself, after an offensive rebound, tied it at 108 with just four seconds left in the game and Tatum missed the decisive shot to avoid overtime.
Overtime did show the personality of the Celtics, with White taking the lead with 10 points in five minutes and well accompanied by Porzingis with 6 more. The Celtics’ unbeaten record at home remained and Mazzulla’s team also won their first overtime of the season.
(c) EFE Agency
2023-12-29 04:34:25
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