The Detroit Pistons didn’t have many losing streaks while winning 60 games last season.
They’ll seek a quick end to their first slide this season when they host the Washington Wizards on Monday night.
The Pistons suffered a six-point loss to Philadelphia on Wednesday, then fell to the Los Angeles Lakers, 121-116, on Sunday.
A horrid start doomed them in the first game of a back-to-back. They trailed the Lakers by 26 points in the first half and never caught up, even though the NBA’s leading scorer, Luka Doncic, didn’t play.
“Seven turnovers early. They’re one of the best in the league at creating points off turnovers,” coach J.B. Bickerstaff said. “So, it definitely didn’t get us off to the start we would have liked.”
Reserve guard Daniss Jenkins was the bright spot, as he scored a career-high 31 points while knocking down eight 3-pointers.
“I just tried to set a move and play within the flow of the game, and just so happened tonight that it was threes. But I just tried to keep moving,” Jenkins said. “My teammates were finding me, and I was open. I was just stepping into it with some confidence, just trying to let it fly.”
The Pistons’ starting lineup was held to 49 points. Franchise player Cade Cunningham contributed just 14 points while committing four turnovers.
They don’t have to wait long to redeem themselves.
“I mean, just get off to a good start. I think it’s tough when you don’t give yourself a chance like that,” Jenkins said. “We fought. That’s all you can ask for. But it would’ve been good if we didn’t get off to that slow start and that big deficit. So, it’s great that you can come back within 24 hours and try to get the job done.”
The Wizards will be looking to snap a three-game losing streak. They were routed by the injury-riddled Oklahoma City Thunder, 114-75, on Saturday.
Washington took plenty of shots and missed most of them. The Wizards had 98 field-goal attempts and made only 29 (29.6%). They knocked down just 7 of 43 3-point tries.
Coach Brian Keefe felt the energy level of his team dropped as the misses piled up.
“They second quarter, they got going and we unfortunately missed some shots, but we had some open ones that I liked,” he said. “We were getting in the paint. I think we had 10 corner threes in the first half. We just didn’t make any of them, to be honest. Sometimes, you’re going to have nights like that where you don’t shoot the ball well. That was probably the story of the game.”
Anthony Davis sat out due to a right ankle sprain and Deandre Ayton departed Saturday’s game due to a calf issue. Davis, who is listed as questionable for Monday’s game, is averaging 23.4 points, 9.3 rebounds and 1.4 steals, leading the club in all those categories. Ayton is not on the injury report.
Trae Young will need to bounce back on Monday from one of the worst outings of his career. The team’s floor leader was limited to four points and three assists in 28 minutes.
Detroit has won six of its last eight matchups against Washington.
