Nets vs. Pistons Tuesday NBA injury report, odds: Detroit would tie single-season league record with 27th straight loss
The Detroit Pistons, who have lost 26 straight games, host the Brooklyn Nets on Tuesday.
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The NBA's single-season record losing streak is likely to fall Tuesday night as the Detroit Pistons, who have dropped a record-tying 26 games in a row, are 6.5-point home underdogs on the SportsLine consensus against the Brooklyn Nets, who just beat the Pistons by 11 on Saturday night in New York. It is tough for a team to sweep a home-and-home series in the NBA, however.
The overall longest losing streak in the NBA is 28, which Detroit seems nearly a lock to at least tie if it loses Tuesday, because coach Monty Williams' club takes a trip to Boston on Thursday. It would be one of the biggest upsets ever if the Pistons win that game. Detroit is then back home vs. Toronto on Saturday with a potential 29th loss on tap. The 76ers lost 28 consecutive games from late in the 2014-15 season through early 2015-16 to hold the overall record.
The Pistons haven't won since Oct. 28 when they improved to 2-1. Fans have been chanting "sell the team" at recent games in reference to owner Tom Gores, who gave Williams a whopping $76 million contract this offseason that now looks like an incredible albatross. Gores recently vowed that changes are coming, but said that Williams and GM Troy Weaver are safe.
The Pistons tied the 2010-11 Cleveland Cavaliers and 2013-14 Philadelphia 76ers with loss No. 26 in a row Saturday, 126-115. They were in the game in the second half before the Nets put them away with a 15-0 run to open a 21-point lead. Tuesday is a bit of a tough spot for Nets players Mikal Bridges and Cam Johnson, as they used to play under Williams in Phoenix and liked their coach but landed in Brooklyn in the Kevin Durant deal.
"Yeah, for sure," Bridges said. "Definitely wouldn't want that on anybody, especially not Mont, such a great dude and works so hard and really good coach. So it's tough. Because I mean, I know he's a big faithful guy, and it's just all part of the story. So just sometimes you've got to struggle to get to what you want. But yeah, that's my guy, obviously I don't want him losing like this. But you know God has got something for him towards the end. And it's just something he has to go through."
The Pistons have many problems, but fouling is a big one. They have had 663 personal fouls called against them, the most in the NBA (22.9 per game), which has led to the most opponent free throw attempts (785, 27.1 per game) in the league as well.
Detroit is listing big men Isaiah Stewart and Jalen Duren as probable. The same goes for guard Killian Hayes. Duren's presence would be big, as the starting center is averaging 12.6 points and 10.9 rebounds per game but hasn't played Dec. 6 due to an ankle injury. If he had enough games to qualify, Duren would rank seventh in the league in rebounds per game and seventh in offensive boards per at 3.4. He had five double-doubles in his last six games played. There aren't any individual props posted for him yet, as Duren could be on a minutes limit.
Brooklyn has won its past five games in Detroit, the Nets' longest active road win streak vs. any opponent. They are 13-4 against the Pistons since the start of the 2018-19 season. This is the front end of a back-to-back for Brooklyn as it hosts star-studded Milwaukee on Wednesday. It might be easy for them to overlook the Pistons.
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