Detroit Pistons guard Cade Cunningham. Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

Pistons get scheduling blow from NBA amid record losing streak

Originally posted on Larry Brown Sports
By Darryn Albert | Last updated 12/28/23

As if 27 losses in a row wasn’t enough, the Detroit Pistons are taking another L.

The NBA announced in a release on Thursday that the Pistons are now getting one less home game. Their scheduled contest on Feb. 26 against the New York Knicks (originally supposed to be played at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit) has now been moved to Madison Square Garden in New York. The league says that this is because of “unique scheduling complications associated with the in-season tournament.”

The following was released by the NBA: pic.twitter.com/rqeH5ibTGF

— NBA Communications (@NBAPR) December 28, 2023

That reasoning makes perfect sense since the NBA’s inaugural in-season tournament put this season’s schedule in flux leaguewide (depending on which teams advanced to the later stages). As a result, the Knicks ended up with 40 home games and the Pistons got 42 (a discrepancy that the NBA has now fixed with this move).

But the timing of the announcement just makes it feel like the league is kicking the Pistons while they are down. The team just punched their ticket to the Hall of Shame with a defeat Tuesday to the Brooklyn Nets, their all-time NBA record-setting 27th loss in a row. But perhaps this is actually a show of mercy from the NBA in sparing the Pistons from having to hear those savage chants from their own fans for an additional game.

This article first appeared on Larry Brown Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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