Detroit Pistons forward Kevin Knox II, from left, guard Marcus Sasser, forward Ausar Thompson and forward Bojan Bogdanovic sit on the bench during the fourth quarter of a 118-112 loss to the Brooklyn Nets, an NBA record 27th straight loss, Tuesday, Dec. 26, 2023, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Duane Burleson)
“Is it heavy? Yeah, I would imagine for everybody it is,” said Pistons first-year coach Monty Williams, a former NBA coach of the year. "Nobody wants this kind of thing attached to them.
"I was brought in here to change this thing. It’s probably the most on me than anybody. Players are playing their hearts out. I got to get them in a position where they don’t feel tight or heavy.”
The Nets beat the Pistons on Saturday in Brooklyn, handing them their 26th consecutive defeat to match the 2010-11 Cleveland Cavaliers and 2013-14 Philadelphia 76ers for the most losses in a row within one season.
Detroit no longer shares the unwanted mark.
Next up is the overall record of 28 straight losses, set by the Philadelphia 76ers from late in the 2014-15 season through early 2015-16.
At least matching the record seems likely with a game Thursday night against the NBA-leading Boston Celtics on the road.
The game against Brooklyn, like the season, started with some hope.
Detroit led 9-1 and had a 14-point lead in the first quarter before poor shooting, defense coupled with turnovers paved the way for Brooklyn to extend the Motor City's misery.
The Nets outscored the Pistons by 13 in the second quarter to lead 61-54 at halftime.
Cade Cunningham scored 18 of his 41 points in the third quarter and made a 3-pointer early in the fourth to give Detroit a 97-92 lead.
Just as fans who nearly filled Little Caesars Arena started cheering with passion heard at a playoff game, the Nets went on a 13-0 run to take the lead for good.
“I’ve been through tough playoff losses, and this is relative to that," said Williams, who led Phoenix and New Orleans to postseason appearances. "When you lose a playoff game, when you get eliminated, this kind of feels like that.”
Cunningham did his part to give the team a shot to finally win, but he didn't have much help and even he had a turnover late in the game that appeared to be unforced.
The No. 1 pick overall from the 2021 NBA draft had a message for his teammates in the locker room after the latest loss.
“Don’t jump off the boat," he said. "We’ve got to stay together. Right now is the easiest time to stand off and be on your own, but we need to continue to lean on each other and continue to push each other, and hold each other accountable more than ever now.”
Bojan Bogdanovic did score 23 points before fouling out and after leaving Cam Johnson wide open for a 3-pointer that gave Brooklyn a six-point lead with 1:40 to go.
“We had a few breakdowns,” Williams said. “It just cost us.”
Jaden Ivey, the No. 5 pick overall last year, missed 9 of 12 shots as the Nets backed off him and welcomed the guard to shoot.
In the final minute, fed-up fans started to chant, “Sell the team! Sell the team!” though Pistons owner Tom Gores was not in the building to hear it.
Gores recently spoke with reporters remotely, and passed along his apologies to the fans for the disappointing season while standing by Williams and general manager Troy Weaver.
“Change is coming," he said. "I’m just saying in terms of Monty, Troy, they’ll be in place.”
The Los Angeles Rams and the Cincinnati Bengals will be the two teams competing at Super Bowl LVI after both survived their respective nail-biting conference championships. The Big Game will be held at the SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, home of the Rams, potentially granting them a home-field advantage. Frank Schwab, a sportswriter for Yahoo Sports, joined Cheddar to discuss what bettors should be looking for at this year’s NFL finale. "Super Bowl, unlike any other game on the NFL schedule, where if people bet once a year, it's going to be on the Super Bowl, especially with so many states having legal betting now," Schwab said.
It's a big weekend for sports betting, with the NFL conference championships and Australian Open finals expected to bring the industry even more traffic. And if record viewership of the divisional playoff game between the Chiefs and Bills was any indication, sports betting will only continue to grow as football season comes to an end. Joe Raineri, sports betting analyst at SportsGrid, joined Cheddar to discuss how these sporting events could impact the industry, which is expected to get even bigger in 2022.
Trysta Krick breaks down the Bengals-Chiefs matchup while Lester Ricard Jr. dissects what will be the third meeting of the season for the 49ers and Rams. Meanwhile, on the hardwood, Brian Bennett says that college basketball bettors should focus on a team's road wins as an early indicator for success in March.
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Trysta Krick, host of BetMGM Tonight, joins Cheddar Bets to break down her best plays in the AFC Championship game and gives a fix for the NFL OT rules.
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Wednesday marked two years since the basketball legend Kobe Bryant, his daughter Gianna, and seven others died in a tragic helicopter crash. In remembrance, a bronze statue has been temporarily placed at the site with all of the passenger's names included on the memorial.
With the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics right around the corner, experts are warning that climate change is threatening not only the event but also the future of snow sports. Despite being the world's top polluter, China is hoping to use the event to demonstrate the country's commitment to fighting climate change, and pledging to host a "low carbon" games. Xubin Zeng, professor of hydrology and atmospheric sciences at the University of Arizona, joins Cheddar News.
As the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics inches closer, sponsors are facing mounting pressure to pull out of the games with China is under fire for controversies like the alleged human rights abuses against its Muslim minority population and the disappearance of tennis player Peng Shuai. Rick Burton, professor of sport management at Syracuse University, joined Cheddar to discuss what he expects to happen once the games begin. Burton said China is too large of a market for American advertisers to ignore, and he doesn't expect any of them to pull out of the games. "Olympic sponsors right now I think are really just trying to hang on and get through these 17 days, come out the other end," he said.
As controversy dogs the run-up to the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, China is hiring TikTokers and other social media influencers to promote the nation's history, culture, diplomatic efforts, and current trends.
Talent Resources Sports is partnering with ABG Entertainment to host Sports Illustrated The Party during the weekend of Super Bowl LVI, featuring musical performances by Kygo, Jack Harlow, and other guests. David Spencer and Mike Heller, co-CEOs and founders of Talent Resources Sports, joined Cheddar to discuss the details behind putting on the event. “We’re just really pumped that after all of the things that got canceled people will finally have a place to let some steam off in such an exciting moment, such a charged moment with the Super Bowl,” Mike Heller said about putting on the live event after previous COVID-related cancellations.
New York quickly became the sports betting capital in the United States following an electric debut earlier this month. Cheddar News was joined by Chad Kornett, VP of Government Relations for Gaming at Geocomply to dive into the numbers.
