There are some quality matchups on the NBA slate for Wednesday night. The featured contest will be the one between the top two seeds in their respective conferences, as the Boston Celtics are set to host the Minnesota Timberwolves in a battle of early-season heavyweights. But there is another matchup that could be just as competitive, though the teams will enter the game on wildly different paths than Boston and Minnesota.
The Two Best (And Two Worst) NBA Teams Will Face Off Tonight
The Pistons are the first NBA team to have an 18+ point lead in a quarter but then lose by 18+ points.
😖😖😖 pic.twitter.com/HooTEpEQnv
— Legion Hoops (@LegionHoops) January 10, 2024
The Detroit Pistons and San Antonio Spurs have the two worst records in the league through the first 10 weeks of the season, and will be playing against one another, with tip-off scheduled for 7pm Eastern.
Not too long ago, the Pistons made history for all the wrong reasons. After starting the season 2-1, the team went on to lose 28-games in a row, tying the all-time losing streak record, and setting the NBA mark for most consecutive losses in a single season. The span lasted from before Halloween until after Christmas, and the streak was finally broken on December 30th when Detroit defeated Toronto by two points.
But the Pistons haven’t won since, losing five straight to start the new calendar year, making them 1-33 over their last 34 games.
The Spurs haven’t been much better. Gregg Popovich and company endured a prolonged losing streak of their own, dropping 18 in a row between November 5th and December 13th. And they’ve only won two games since, putting their record at 5-30, by far the worst mark in the Western Conference. When the two sides square off tonight, it will be a battle of two teams with a combined record of 8-64.
Spurs Will Be 3.5 Point Favorites Over Pistons
Wemby this season:
19.3 PPG
10.1 RPG
3.3 BPGNo player has averaged 15p/10r/3b in a season since Shaq in 2000. https://t.co/8K37fvqRJ3
— StatMuse (@statmuse) January 8, 2024
Despite being the road team, the Spurs will be the favorites in the contest. The line is currently listed at -3.5, thanks in large part to the Pistons being without their leading scorer. Cade Cunningham has been perhaps the lone bright spot of the NBA season so far for Detroit, but he suffered a knee strain against Dallas over the weekend and was forced to miss Tuesday’s game against Sacramento. He’ll be out again tonight, and will miss at least the next week as he recovers.
While there are no easy wins for a bottom-feeding team, the Spurs have a chance to pick up a victory or two in the coming days. Of their next seven games, six of them will be against opponents with a losing record, including two against the Hornets, and one against each of the Pistons and Wizards.
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