Losses have piled up at an alarming rate for the San Antonio Spurs and Detroit Pistons this season, but one of those downtrodden teams will get a much-needed victory when they face each other in Detroit on Wednesday night.
The Pistons have the worst record in the league at 3-34, and the Spurs are second-worst at 5-30.
Both teams carry five-game slides into the matchup, but a closer look reveals the depth of their despair. San Antonio has won just two of its past 30 outings while Detroit has just one victory in its past 34 games.
The Spurs’ visit also will give the Pistons a painful reminder of last year’s draft lottery. Detroit had the league’s worst record but dropped to the fifth spot in the draft order. San Antonio won the Victor Wembanyama sweepstakes, setting itself up for a much brighter future.
Wembanyama leads the NBA in blocked shots at 3.3 per game. He also averages 19.3 points, 10.1 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 1.2 steals.
The 7-foot-4 Wembanyama is on a minutes restriction due to an ailing ankle but still racked up 24 points, 10 rebounds and five blocks in 25 minutes during a 117-115 loss at Cleveland on Sunday.
“My hunger is bigger than ever to win and to compete, but now I have learned to get over that frustration of the minutes restriction,” Wembanyama said. “My body needs time to adapt to the load and to the long season. Once it’s ready, it is go time. But there is no need to be frustrated. I keep my long-term goals in mind.”
The Spurs have been competitive in two other recent losses, falling by eight points to Memphis and four to Milwaukee.
San Antonio finished strong against Cleveland.
“We outscored them 11-0 in the last three minutes, so the defense was pretty good,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said.
The Pistons’ top player, Cade Cunningham, will miss his second consecutive game. He’s been diagnosed with a left knee strain and will be re-evaluated in seven to 10 days.
Detroit scored 47 first-quarter points against Sacramento on Tuesday and still found a way to lose by a lopsided margin. The Kings finished the game on a 30-9 run to hand the Pistons a 131-110 loss.
“Turnovers, and there were times when we couldn’t get into an offense,” Pistons coach Monty Williams said of the fourth-quarter collapse. “We didn’t have the organization that we had in the first (quarter). I told the guys that the maturity of this team, one of the steps we have to take, is when we get off (fast) and start playing well and teams hit us in the mouth, get physical with us, we have to be able to overcome it.”
The Pistons had 21 turnovers that the Kings turned into 24 points. Detroit also allowed Sacramento to shoot 57.4 percent from the field.
–Field Level Media
