The surprising Detroit Pistons will try to do something on Wednesday that they haven’t accomplished in 17 years. They’ll look to stretch their winning streak to eight games when they host the defending champion Boston Celtics.
The last time Detroit won eight or more consecutive games came in 2008, when it strung together 10 victories from Jan. 23-Feb. 13.
The Pistons reached the Eastern Conference finals for the sixth straight time that season and lost to the eventual champion Celtics.
Detroit posted back-to-back victories in very different ways on Sunday and Monday. The Pistons won an offensive showdown at Atlanta, 148-143, then relied on a solid defensive effort to defeat the Los Angeles Clippers, 106-97.
“It took grit. It wasn’t easy,” coach J.B. Bickerstaff said. “I think both teams were coming in a little fatigued. The style of basketball they play is rough, rugged and physical — a lot of hands, a lot of grabbing and holding. So, it wasn’t going to come easy for us.”
That game began a four-game homestand for the Pistons. They’ll also face Denver on Friday and Brooklyn on Saturday before heading out on a four-game road trip.
“I know how much this team means to this city when our guys are playing at the level they are playing at,” Bickerstaff said. “They aren’t doing it for themselves. We need our fans. We love it when they’re in the building. They’ve got our back. It just brings a different vibe to the group because we want to make them happy.”
No one is making them happier than All-Star Cade Cunningham, who is averaging career highs in points (25.8 per game), assists (9.5) and rebounds (6.3). Cunningham believes Bickerstaff, who replaced Monty Williams after he was fired by Cleveland following last season, deserves a lot of credit for the franchise’s turnaround.
“I think he’s Coach of the Year, obviously,” Cunningham said. “The things that he’s done, how prepared that we’ve been, I’m not surprised that we’ve won so many games. We feel more prepared than other teams.”
Boston will be playing the second game of the back-to-back. The Celtics collected their sixth consecutive victory by defeating Toronto, 111-101.
Jaylen Brown led the way with 24 points, Derrick White supplied 22 and Payton Pritchard contributed 20 off the bench.
Pritchard has reached the 20-point mark in four of his last seven games.
“He’s really well rounded where he can score at all three levels,” head coach Joe Mazzulla said. “He can do it in transition, he can do it in the half court, he can do it off offensive rebounds and he can create his own shot.”
The Celtics didn’t have two of their starters as Jrue Holiday was rested and Kristaps Porzingis was a late scratch due to illness. Reserve big man Al Horford (left big toe sprain) also sat out but all three are expected to play on Wednesday.
“He wasn’t feeling well and at the same time we wanted to make sure that we’ll have him for tomorrow,” Mazzulla said of Porzingis. “We kind of all made that decision together, just kind of as a team, that it’d be best if we make sure we have him tomorrow.”
The Celtics will be aiming for a four-game series sweep. They won the season’s first three meetings over the Pistons.
