Two seasons after an NBA-record losing streak, the visiting Detroit Pistons go for a franchise record 13th consecutive victory Monday against the reeling Indiana Pacers.
Detroit has the best record in the Eastern Conference and is getting stronger.
Jaden Ivey made his season debut in Saturday’s 129-116 win over the Milwaukee Bucks and scored 10 points in 15 minutes. It was his first game since breaking his fibula in January.
“We’re just happy to have him back,” Pistons coach J.B. Bickerstaff said. “That’s the most important thing. For him to have that joy in competition and competing with his teammates, that was the most important thing for him out there.
“Obviously, you see the way that he can impact a game at a high level. In 15 minutes, it’s hard to catch a rhythm sometimes, but I thought he did all the things we needed him to do. This is just more a celebration of his journey to get back out on the court.”
Ivey was scoring 17.6 points per game with 4.1 rebounds and 4.0 assists last season when he went down.
“Going into it, I was kind of just trying to get my mind wrapped around it just because it’s been so long,” Ivey said. “It took a while for me to get used to it, get used to warming up and just going through the normal routine again. But I just had so much gratitude to be out there again.”
Detroit was the NBA laughingstock of the 2023-24 season while going through a 28-game losing streak. Last season, the Pistons made the playoffs, losing in the first round to the New York Knicks.
Pistons guard Cade Cunningham continues to blossom, averaging 27.5 points and 9.9 assists, which is second in the NBA behind the Denver Nuggets’ Nikola Jokic (10.8).
A win over the Pacers would tie the franchise-best winning streak set by the 1989-90 and 2003-2004 Pistons. In both of those seasons, Detroit won the NBA title.
The Pacers were a victory away from an NBA title last season, but it’s all gone wrong since losing to the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 7 of the NBA Finals. Tyrese Haliburton tore his Achilles that night and Indiana has not been the same.
The Pacers have lost nine of their last 10 games. Aaron Nesmith is out until mid-December with a knee injury and Obi Toppin is out until maybe March after foot surgery.
There was some good news for Indiana when Bennedict Mathurin came back last week after missing 11 games with a sprained toe. Mathurin is scoring 26.4 points with 7.2 rebounds in five games this season. Pascal Siakam (24.8 points, 7.0 rebounds) is about the only major Pacers contributor who has been fully healthy this season.
“Obviously, we need our star guys to be stars,” Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said. “Pascal is one of our stars. (Mathurin) is going to have to be one of our stars. Star players have to do everything, not just score.”
Monday marks the third game of a four-game road trip for Detroit.
