The miracle of the Pistons

Detroit won its 13th straight exactly two years after it had lost its 13th straight amid a 28-game losing streak. How is this possible?

Good morning. Let's basketball.

There's been no reversal more dramatic in the last decade of NBA basketball than what we're seeing in Detroit. The Pistons beat the Pacers in Indianapolis on Monday, securing their 13th consecutive win. This came on the two-year anniversary of the Pistons losing their 13th straight game in Indianapolis to the Pacers amid a 28-game losing streak early in the 2023-24 season. Two years after finishing the season with a 14-68 record, the Pistons are 15-2 and No. 1 in the East. They could lose the next 65 games straight and finish with a better record than they did just two years ago.

Last season felt like a miracle for the Pistons: they hung around the playoff race as Cade Cunningham made the All-Star team and the team seemed to buy in under new coach J.B. Bickerstaff. Eventually Detroit finished with 44 wins and a guarantee postseason berth. They pushed the Knicks hard in the first round – losing a couple of games via epic collapse – and made some minor changes in the offseason, some by choice and some by necessity.

Going from 14 wins to 44 in one season is a miracle. But going from 14 wins to this in two seasons is even more dramatic, especially major transactions to reshape the rotation. Take Houston's recent rise as a comparison. In 2022-23, the Rockets won 22 games. Two years later (which was last season), they won 52 and claimed the No. 2 seed in the West. But in the interim they changed not just their head coach, but added multiple veteran starters.

The closest example we have are the Thunder: OKC went from 24 wins in 2021-22 to 57 wins two years later in 2023-24. It was an amazing and remarked-upon rise for Oklahoma City. But it was all so clearly planned and coordinated: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's MVP rise made it possible, as did Sam Presti's methodical collection of time-synced young players (including multiple high lottery picks), the franchise's heavy emphasis on culture and Mark Daigneault's on-court system. OKC's rise felt like a blueprint being made real.

That hasn't been the perception or reality in Detroit. The Pistons have cycled through coaches – Dwane Casey oversaw four horrible seasons before making way for Monty Williams, who was quickly exiled for Bickerstaff. They've changed over front offices. The draft, as a result, has been shaky. And the Pistons didn't have a bunch of extra picks to work with because during those down years the team wasn't always building for a future.