Pistons’ lead narrows as four-game slide continues in Miami
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The Detroit Pistons absorbed their fourth consecutive defeat Sunday night, falling 121-110 to the Miami Heat and watching their once-comfortable cushion atop the Eastern Conference shrink to 2½ games.
Just a week earlier, Detroit had won eight of nine and held a 5½-game edge over Boston. The current skid is the club’s longest of the season; before this stretch, the Pistons had not dropped more than two in a row and were 12-2 immediately after a loss.
“It’s the NBA. Everybody goes through difficult times,” head coach J.B. Bickerstaff said postgame at Kaseya Center. “We’ve got plenty of time left to do what we have to do. Boston is a good team, but we’re not concerned about Boston.”
Three of the four setbacks came against playoff contenders—Cleveland, San Antonio and Miami—while Saturday’s loss to Brooklyn stands as the lone defeat against a sub-.500 opponent.
Cade Cunningham and Jalen Duren combined for 50 points in Miami, yet Detroit could not erase a double-digit deficit. Veteran forward Tobias Harris, the roster’s eldest player, called the slide “our biggest dose of adversity all year,” but expressed confidence the group will rebound. “We know we’re supposed to win, and we put the work in. We’ll figure it out and get ready for the playoffs,” Harris said.
Detroit’s turnaround remains striking. The franchise finished 14-68 in 2023-24, jumped to 44 wins and a playoff berth last season, and has already logged 45 victories with 19 games left on this year’s schedule.
Heat coach Erik Spoelstra credited the Pistons’ quick culture shift, noting the competitive edge of Cunningham and Duren. “It’s hard to win in this league, especially with young players,” Spoelstra said. “But those two are wired a little differently.”
Detroit (45-18) returns home Tuesday aiming to halt the skid, while Miami (39-24) tightened its grip on fourth place in the conference.
Source: ESPN
