NBA Rumors: Cade Cunningham Addressed Pistons After Record 27th-Straight Loss

Adam WellsDecember 27, 2023

Brian Sevald/NBAE via Getty Images

After the Detroit Pistons lost their NBA-record 27th consecutive game on Tuesday night, Cade Cunningham used the moment as an opportunity to talk with the team about where things are at.

Appearing on FanDuel TV’s Run It Back, Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium reported the third-year guard addressed the Pistons in the locker room after the game with “a lot more passion” than he has in recent weeks.

Run It Back @RunItBackFDTV”I’m told after the game last night, Cade Cunningham addressed the team, he’s been addressing the team more the last couple of weeks.”@ShamsCharania on Cade Cunningham and possible trades for the Pistons.

📺: https://t.co/wdT8I0ST8g pic.twitter.com/BNQ6rW3kMU

The specific details of what Cunningham said in the locker room weren’t made clear, but he talked about the general message while speaking to reporters after Tuesday’s loss to the Brooklyn Nets.

“Don’t jump off the boat. We gotta stay together,” Cunningham said. “Right now is the easiest time to stand off and be on your own, but we need to continue to lean on each other, continue to push each other, and hold each other more than ever now.”

Cunningham has been doing everything in his power to end this streak. He has scored more than 40 points twice in the past four games, including a 41-point effort on 15-of-21 shooting against the Nets.

There were moments on Tuesday when it seemed like the Pistons were finally going to have a breakthrough. They stormed out to a 22-8 lead in the first quarter, but trailed by as many as nine points by the final minute of the first half.

The Pistons opened the fourth quarter on a 12-4 run to take a 97-92 lead with just over eight minutes left to play. The Nets immediately responded by scoring 10 straight points and never trailed again.

Opposing teams have scored at least 107 points in every game during the losing streak, including at least 120 points in seven of the past nine games.

When the season started, it looked like the Pistons might be ready to take a step forward after being at or near the top of the lottery odds in each of the previous three years. They won two of their first three games, with all three of their opponents being held to 103 points or fewer.

That would be the end of the good Pistons vibes. They haven’t won a game since Oct. 28 and have to play the Boston Celtics at TD Garden on Thursday trying to snap the longest losing skid in NBA history.