Detroit — The Pistons entered Monday’s game against the Portland Trail Blazers on a seven-game losing streak, which is tied for the longest slump of the season.
The last time the Pistons won was on Feb. 10, when Jalen Duren produced the best game of his young NBA career. Since then, Duren has lacked his usual explosiveness and has been unavailable for the past four games due to bilateral ankle soreness. The Pistons have dealt with a handful of other injuries to key rotation players, including as Bojan Bogdanovic, Alec Burks, Isaiah Stewart, Killian Hayes and Isaiah Livers.
The team is also integrating new pieces, including James Wiseman, RJ Hampton, their two-way players Jared Rhoden and Buddy Boeheim, and 10-day signee Eugene Omoruyi. The final result hasn’t translated to the win column, and despite the constant defeats, morale at practices and inside the locker room remains high.
A large part of that is due to the Pistons’ growth mindset and hopes that the franchise takes a leap next season — when they’re healthier and full of more talent from this summer’s highly-anticipated NBA draft and free-agency season.
“We all do. I see the bigger picture,” Pistons coach Dwane Casey said after Sunday’s practice. “I know our fans are probably frustrated — which I understand — but we’re in a growth mentality. Every day for us is a teaching (moment). Every film session, we hold guys accountable, but we’re positive. We’re teaching and I wish there was a magic wand that says, ‘These guys gotta grow up.’ It doesn’t happen in this league.”
The Pistons are coming off a 24-point loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers in a game defined by turnovers, lack of depth and inexperience. Despite a season-high 24 turnovers, Detroit remained in the game for the first two quarters, until Cleveland flipped a switch and produced a 42-point third quarter.
“Just like last night, we worked our butts off for a long period of time but sooner or later, the experience and the talent took over,” Casey said. “That’s the experience that you have to have to go against a great team like Cleveland, especially defensively.”
The losses are what they are, but there are some positives to take away from the team’s recent string of games. Since the All-Star break, the Pistons rank seventh in rebounds per game (47.0) A large part of that stems from the impressive play of Marvin Bagley III and James Wiseman, who have manned the frontcourt in the recent absence of Duren and Stewart.
Casey started Bagley and Wiseman together for the first time on Saturday, but the lineup posed spacing difficulties for Wiseman, who scored just three points with nine rebounds.
“Some of it was spacing and some of it was he’s open down there and purposely looking down there to get him the ball,” Casey said. “It was an emphasis today in the film session. We ask him, Marvin and JD — our bigs — to rebound, block shots, pick-and-roll coverage, to talk. We gotta get him the ball. All of our guards have to get a feel for that and reward them, or else they’re going to stop rebounding; they’re going to stop blocking shots. If you don’t give them some sugar, they’re going to stop playing.”
The Pistons will need to get their big men involved, and healthy, in order to have a fair shot at snapping their longest losing streak of the season.
Nets sign Noel to 10-day contract
Nerlens Noel is going back to New York, but this time, it’s to join the Brooklyn Nets.
The Nets announced the signing of Noel to a 10-day contract on Monday, nearly one week after the Pistons waived him for more roster flexiblity.
Since he was waived before March 1, Noel was eligible to join a playoff roster for the remainder of the season. The Nets are sixth in the Eastern Conference standings at 36-28, two games behind the New York Knicks for fifth place.
Noel’s addition adds size to Brooklyn’s bench. He averaged 2.3 points and 2.6 rebounds in 14 games (three starts) for Detroit before he was bought out.
Brooklyn marks Noel’s sixth team in his nine seasons.
Wizards at Pistons
Tipoff: 7 Tuesday, Little Caesars Arena, Detroit
TV/radio: BSD/97.1
Outlook: The Pistons and Wizards will meet on Tuesday in game rescheduled from their initial Feb. 1 date, which was postponed due to Detroit’s travel issues in Dallas. Three of the last five games between Washington and Detroit were decided by three points and the Wizards were victorious in all three meetings.
mcurtis@detroitnews.com
Twitter: @MikeACurtis2