Boston Celtics rally to hand Detroit Pistons 28th straight NBA defeat

NEW YORK – Detroit coach Monty Williams was “proud” of his team, despite just missing out on ending their long and unwanted losing streak in the National Basketball Association (NBA) on Dec 28.

The Pistons fought hard, led by a big margin, went into overtime, but ultimately could not overcome the Boston Celtics. All their efforts were in vain as the Celtics rallied from a 21-point deficit to win 128-122 in the extra period, and hand the Pistons a record-equalling 28th straight NBA defeat.

“I’m unbelievably proud of the group, the way they bring it,” Williams said. “They’ve heard all the stuff (criticism) about our team but they just keep bringing it. I know it’s going to pay off.

“They bring a spirit and integrity and toughness to the gym every single day. As bad as they hurt right now, I hurt for them.

“But I told them: ‘If we bring that kind of toughness and execution – minus the turnovers – we’re not just going to win one game. We’re going to put something together.”

On a night when San Antonio star rookie Victor Wembanyama scored 30 points to lead the Spurs to a 118-105 win over the Portland Trail Blazers and two-time NBA Most Valuable Player Nikola Jokic was virtually perfect in a Denver Nuggets win, the Pistons were on the wrong side of history again.

Detroit, already the

first team to lose 27 straight games in a single season,

are now the second team to lose 28 in a row – joining the Philadelphia 76ers who had a 28-game skid spanning the 2014-15 and 2015-16 seasons.

Kristaps Porzingis’ dunk – after Jayson Tatum grabbed the rebound of a miss by Detroit’s Isaiah Livers – effectively sealed it, putting Boston up 123-117 with 45.2 seconds left in overtime.

The Celtics escaped with their perfect home record intact at 15-0, improving their league-leading record to 24-6.

For a while, however, it looked like a desperate Detroit might take advantage of a Celtics squad expecting an easy win – something Boston coach Joe Mazzulla had warned was a danger. “Each loss they’re actually playing harder because they want to win,” he said. “It’s going to happen.”

The Pistons had 31 second-chance points and, with Cade Cunningham scoring 22 of his team-high 31 points in the first half, led by as many as 21 on the way to a 66-47 advantage at the break.

Cunningham added six rebounds and nine assists and Jaden Ivey scored 22 points with 10 rebounds. But 19 Detroit turnovers led to 27 Celtics points.

“We’re on the same level as all these teams we’re playing against,” Cunningham insisted. “There’s not one I’ve ever come across in the NBA where I felt like I was going into a slaughterhouse. So every game we should be able to fight teams and impose our will on them.

“We have what it takes to win a game. But to put games together, to find our system, find what’s clicking and allow us to sustain winning. That’s all we’re looking for.”

The Celtics outscored the Pistons 35-16 in the third quarter to head into the fourth tied at 82-82.

Detroit twice took a four-point lead in the fourth. A Tatum lay-up followed by a Porzingis three-pointer put Boston up by six with 1min 56sec left in the fourth, but Bojan Bogdanovic’s tip-in for Detroit tied it up at 108-108.

Porzingis, who scored a game-high 35 points, stepped up in overtime and his dunk was vital as Detroit lost steam.

In Portland, French prodigy Wembanyama’s 30 points came with six rebounds, six assists and seven blocked shots – and he did it all in less than 25 minutes on the floor. His team led by as many as 28 in the first quarter and never trailed as they notched their fifth win of the season.

“We were never stopping the ball, always moving and sharing it,” Wembanyama said. “The defence, we were all locked in on the shifts.”

In Denver, Jokic had 26 points, 14 rebounds and 10 assists in the Nuggets’ 142-105 win over Memphis for his 12th triple-double of the season. He has 116 in his career, fourth in NBA history behind Magic Johnson (138), Oscar Robertson (181) and Russell Westbrook (198). AFP