One Stat Perfectly Captures How Inept the Pistons Have Been This Season

Detroit has set a franchise record for consecutive losses.

The Pistons have the NBA’s worst record at 2–16. Wednesday’s 133–107 loss to the Lakers extended Detroit’s losing streak to 15, setting a franchise record for consecutive losses.

D’Angelo Russell led Los Angeles with a season-high 35 points, with Anthony Davis adding 28 and LeBron James scoring 25. 

James’s total gave him 259 points in the Lakers’ 11 wins this season. That might appear to be an arbitrary stat. James leads the team in scoring, averaging 25.1 points per game. But that only ranks 16th among the current NBA’s scoring leaders. And the Lakers’ 11 wins are tied with four other teams for the fourth-highest total at this point of the season. 

Why focus on the number of points James has scored in the Lakers’ victories thus far? Those 259 points are more than the Pistons have totaled in their wins this season, as pointed out by StatMuse on X (formerly Twitter).

Total points in wins this season:

259 — LeBron James
229 — Detroit Pistons pic.twitter.com/0XC8nMTMMu

— StatMuse (@statmuse) November 30, 2023

Again, Detroit has only won two games this season so there haven’t been many opportunities to add to that point total. But showing that James has outscored the Pistons in his team’s wins this season is a stark example of just how badly Detroit has played. 

The Pistons weren’t expected to be among the Eastern Conference contenders this season, but there was some hope they might compete for a place in the NBA play-in tournament. Instead, it appears Detroit will have one of the top picks in the draft. 

The Pistons will try to end their 15-game losing streak–and get a win in November–on Thursday at Madison Square Garden versus the Knicks.