The Oklahoma City Thunder lost by an NBA-record 73 points recently. The Detroit Pistons need to avoid demoralizing losses like that with such a young team.
There is being a bad NBA basketball team, and then there is being a pathetic excuse of a basketball team. On December 3, the Oklahoma City Thunder were a pathetic excuse, losing to the Memphis Grizzlies, 152-79.
The 73-point loss was a record for margin of defeat (the old record was 68 points, suffered by Miami against Cleveland in December, 1991). and got the Thunder unwanted national publicity.
Major publications like the New York Times and Washington Post ran stories on the historic, crushing loss. And OKC got ripped on ESPN by Stephen A. Smith, what an honor!
Most NBA teams get to tank and lose all the time in relative peace and quiet. No one usually cares, except their fans, and the opponent’s fans, who wonder why they have to pay $100 a ticket to watch a non-competitive game.
You might be surprised to know that Oklahoma City actually has two more wins on the season (6 to 4) then the Pistons. Now, the Thunder were missing in that game some of their top players, including Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, but, still, they are all NBA players, you need to be within like, 70, of an opponent. And they were playing the Grizzlies, a team that can score, but also give up a ton of points.
In case you’re wondering, the Pistons worst loss this season was by 28-points to the defending champion Milwaukee Bucks on November 2, it followed a 27-point defeat to the Brooklyn Nets in its previous game.
Those games are now well in the Pistons rearview mirror.
When one thinks of Detroit, phrases like ‘scrappy’, ‘hustling’ and ‘competitive’ come to mind. The past couple of seasons under coach Dwane Casey, the Pistons have shown a ‘never say die’ attitude, just not a lot of wins resulting from all the work.
But a young team’s confidence level is fragile. They are playing against teams and big names they grew up watching. They need to see for themselves they can compete with the best in the league. Getting slapped around game after game by embarrassing margins could grind an inexperienced team down.
In recent games against the Los Angeles Lakers and Phoenix Suns, the Pistons have been competitive (and it not for LeBron James antics, might have won that one). Simply being able to play with the top dogs in the league is Step 1 on building a team. Step 2 is actually beating them.
With lots of money for free agents next season, Detroit also does not want to become a national joke. Players, as Jerami Grant has shown, have no problem joining teams that have been losing (for gobs of money and playing time). But no one wants to sign with a team that has been embarrassing themselves, and they would get derided for signing with.
Detroit may lose, a lot, the rest of the season, but development comes from close games, not 73-point losses.