A turning point is coming for the Detroit Pistons

The Detroit Pistons vs. the Washington Wizards will not be one of the marquee matchups of the 2023-24 NBA season.

Both teams are struggling and the loser tonight will walk away as the NBA's worst team.

A Detroit loss would tie the franchise's longest losing streak and be a low point for a team that has had plenty of them over the last few seasons.

I like to be an optimist, so see this game against the Wizards as a potential turning point for the Pistons one way or another.

If the Pistons beat the Wizards...

Great! A win is a win even if it is against a tanking team that arguably has far less talent than the Pistons.

You have to start somewhere, so who knows, maybe a decisive win over Washington would give Detroit a little momentum as they head into a much more difficult stretch of the schedule. They've recently gotten some players back from injury, and more are on the way, so we could look back at this win as the point they started to turn things around. I know, I'm reaching here.

But any win is a good win at this point, and it would at least guarantee that they don't crush the franchise record for consecutive losses, or even, sigh, go for the all-time NBA record.

If the Pistons lose to the Wizards...

Hello darkness my old friend.

Would a loss to the tanking Wizards at home be enough to jumpstart some big changes for the Pistons? They obviously aren't going to fire Monty Williams, so that is out of the question.

They shouldn't make a big panic trade just to make one and it's not clear if that move even exists anyway.

That leaves the front office. Would Tom Gores see this as a rock bottom and fire Troy Weaver? I can't imagine that happening, especially with all of the injuries this season, but it's possible that there could be some kind of shake-up in the lower ranks.

So if you want a reason to watch tonight, there is something at stake for the Pistons, as a win could start to set them right and a loss could make them take a long look in the mirror.