Detroit Pistons guard Cade Cunningham (2) drives as Utah Jazz forward Simone Fontecchio (16) defends during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Thursday, Dec. 21, 2023, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)
DETROIT — Kelly Olynyk scored 25 points and the shorthanded Utah Jazz beat Detroit 119-111 on Thursday night for the Pistons’ 25th straight loss — one short of the NBA single season record.
The 2010-11 Cleveland Cavaliers and 2013-14 Philadelphia 76ers share the record at 26. The 76ers hold the overall mark at 28, a skid that started in the 2014-15 season and carried over into 2015-16.
“I want to be careful with my words, because this one hurts more than most of them,” first-year coach Monty Williams said. “A team that played last night got (50) points off turnovers and rebounds. It is unbelievably hard to understand how we can get outworked in those categories.”
yeah, you’re gonna want to rewatch these (dunk) highlights 🎥#PlayerHighlights | @zionsbank pic.twitter.com/J9O5Yai4Kn
— Utah Jazz (@utahjazz) December 22, 2023
The Pistons fell to 2-26, with the crowd chanting “Sell the team! Sell the team!” at the end in a loud statement to owner Tom Gores and his Platinum Equity firm. Detroit will be back in action Saturday night in Brooklyn.
“We’re not 2-26 bad — no way are we that bad,” said Cade Cunningham, who led Detroit with 28 points and 10 assists. “I think we can turn this around. We can play a much better brand of basketball.”
"Do you think this particular group can turn it around?"
Cade Cunningham: "Yeah, we're not 2-26 bad. No way are we that bad." pic.twitter.com/bxFLEVHuQa
— Dime (@DimeUPROXX) December 22, 2023
Utah played without four of its top seven scorers — Lauri Markkanen, Jordan Clarkson, Keyonte George and Talen Horton-Tucker — on the second night of a back-to-back after losing at Cleveland on Wednesday.
“That’s a really, really good team win for us,” Jazz coach Will Hardy said. “That’s a hard game to play — second night of a back-to-back on the road with a bunch of guys out.”
Collin Sexton added 19 points for the Jazz Utah, and Ochai Agbaji had 18. Jaden Ivey added 24 points for Detroit, and Marvin Bagley III had 22, but no one else had more than eight.
Utah led 90-88 going into the fourth quarter and took advantage of Detroit’s poor shooting to increase make it 100-93 with 7:40 to play.
The Pistons missed their first six 3-point attempts of the fourth, but Bojan Bogdanovic hit one to make it 104-100 with 4:40 left. Olynyk’s 3-pointer against his former team put the Jazz up seven and Sexton’s tip-in made it 115-106 with 1:37 to play.
“Rebounding is something we’ve emphasized all season, and it is definitely part of our identity on the offensive side of the ball,” Hardy said after his team finished with 15 offensive rebounds.
Sexton added two free throws to make it an 11-point game.
The Pistons were 1 for 10 on 3s in the fourth quarter.
“We had a chance to win it down the stretch, and we just weren’t solid enough,” Cunningham said. “This is history no one wants to be a part of.”
UP NEXT
Jazz: At Toronto on Saturday night.
Pistons: At Brooklyn on Saturday night.