Good morning, I’m Dan Gartland. I’m still laughing at this hilarious blooper from Brock Lesnar’s entrance on Monday Night Raw.
In today’s SI:AM:
🏀 Pistons keep rolling
⛏️ Niners grind out another win
🏈 The Panthers’ biggest problem
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What a difference two years makes
Two years ago, the Pistons were the biggest joke in the NBA. Now, they’re a first-place team with legitimate title aspirations.
Detroit beat the reeling Pacers 122–117 in Indianapolis on Monday night to extend its current winning streak to 13 games, tying the franchise record. The Pistons are now 15–2 on the season, the best record in the Eastern Conference, and only trail the Thunder (17–1) for the top spot in the league.
It’s a stunning turnaround from where the Pistons were two seasons ago. Exactly two years ago, on Nov. 24, 2023, Detroit got blown out 136–113 by the Pacers for its 13th consecutive loss and fell to 2–14 on the season. That losing streak would reach an NBA single-season record 28 games before it was finally snapped.
Those were dark days in Detroit, but the Pistons began to turn things around almost immediately. They were one of the most pleasant surprises in the NBA last season, when they went 44–38 (which was 30 more wins than the previous season), and finished sixth in the East. They were bounced from the playoffs in the opening round by the Knicks, but the remarkable reversal showed that the rebuild was proceeding ahead of schedule.
Consider the rebuild more or less complete. As we approach the quarter mark of this season, Detroit has emerged as the class of the Eastern Conference. The East was turned on its head after injuries to Tyrese Haliburton and Jayson Tatum hamstrung the conference’s two most recent NBA Finals representatives. The Cavaliers, Knicks and Bucks, three teams that found themselves near the top of the conference last season, have failed to fill the void left by the Celtics’ and Pacers’ misfortune. The Pistons, meanwhile, have built on last year’s improvements to become a truly elite team. They’re tied for fourth in the league in net rating (+6.9), thanks in large part to one of the NBA’s best defenses. Detroit ranks second in opponent turnover percentage and fourth in opponent field goal percentage.
They aren’t an unstoppable force like Oklahoma City has been. While Monday night’s win was historic, it still highlighted room for improvement. The 117 points Detroit allowed were the second most it’s given up in a game this season, only behind the 135 that the lowly Wizards scored on Nov. 10, the seventh game of the streak. A team with title aspirations would have liked to have beaten the scuffling Pacers (who fell to 2–15 with the loss) by more than five points, too.
“I would like for us to be greedier,” coach J.B. Bickerstaff said. “I felt like in that fourth quarter, and even in the third quarter, we let our guard down defensively. We allowed them to make a run. And again, I’ll keep saying it, our defense is our identity. That’s when we’re at our best.
“That second half, we weren’t our best defensively. That’s the mindset that we have to have—the mindset has to be, ‘We can’t ever feel full or satisfied.’”
The core of last season’s playoff team remains intact, but Detroit made a handful of moves this offseason to improve around the edges. The Pistons are still led by budding young stars Cade Cunningham and Jalen Duren, with veteran Tobias Harris also playing a key role in the starting lineup. The two biggest moves this summer were trading for former Heat sharpshooter Duncan Robinson and signing bench scoring threat Caris LeVert to a two-year contract in free agency. Another acquisition of sorts is the return of Jaden Ivey, the No. 5 pick in the 2022 draft, who played just 30 games last season after breaking his leg in early January. A knee procedure caused Ivey to miss the first 15 games of this season, but he made his debut on Sunday in a win over the Bucks and figures to provide additional depth off the bench.
The Pistons are only 17 games into an 82-game season, so who’s to say if they can keep this up for the next five months? But they deserve to be applauded for turning around the franchise’s fortunes so quickly.
The best of Sports Illustrated
- The Panthers are vastly improved from last year, but have one major factor holding them back. Matt Verderame makes the case for why Carolina should move on from Bryce Young.
- The 49ers aren’t getting great quarterback play, either, but they keep finding ways to win. Gilberto Manzano looks at how San Francisco pieced together another victory on Monday night.
- Detroit has quietly mastered the formula for sustained success—something many NFL teams still can’t grasp. Michael Rosenberg explains why the Lions’ staying power is no accident.
- Thanksgiving isn’t all about football. It’s increasingly becoming a marquee day for college basketball, too. Kevin Sweeney speaks with several people from around the television industry about how hoops established a foothold on Turkey Day.
- As Sweeney writes, Milan Momcilovic’s breakout at the Players Era Festival signals he may finally be emerging as the star who could reshape the Big 12 race.
- From Bryce Harper’s homegrown veggies to Zack Wheeler’s candy fix, Stephanie Apstein takes you inside the Phillies’ wildly different eating habits and how it all fuels a winning clubhouse.
- Rivalry week is here, and Pat Forde lays out which matchups could send shockwaves through the 12-team CFP race.
The top five…
… things I saw last night:
5. A.J. Greer’s goal for the Panthers just 11 seconds after puck drop.
4. A ferocious dunk by the Bulls’ Matas Buzelis.
3. Jauan Jennings’s ability to shake off three tacklers on a touchdown catch.
2. Panthers defensive lineman Tershawn Wharton’s hustle to get off the field and avoid a penalty.
1. An incredibly creative assist by Nikola Jokić. He’s always finding new ways to set up his teammates, but this one was especially cool.
This article was originally published on www.si.com as SI:AM | Pistons Make History With 13th Straight Win.
