The stats match your eyes: Detroit Pistons have one of worst net ratings in NBA history

The numbers behind the Detroit Pistons’ historically bad first 26 games of the season match what your eyes have seen; the Pistons are indeed one of the worst teams in NBA history.

The Pistons have now dropped 24 games in a row after Monday night's loss in Atlanta and, at 2-25, are on pace for the worst record in NBA history. Each loss brings a new layer of embarrassment, and the margins of defeat keep increasing as the streak grows.

The Pistons entering Monday held a minus-11.8 net rating, meaning they are outscored by 11.8 points every 100 possessions, the worst mark in the NBA. The Pistons actually sat ahead of the 4-21 San Antonio Spurs in the metric for most of the season despite having the worst record but dropped to last after back-to-back 32-point losses to the Milwaukee Bucks and Philadelphia 76ers last week.

The minus-11.8 net rating would be good for the fourth-worst in NBA history, ahead of the 1972-73 Dallas Mavericks (minus-15.2), the 2012-13 Charlotte Bobcats (minus-15), the 1997-98 Denver Nuggets (minus-13.2) and the 1999-00 Los Angeles Clippers (minus-12.3).

For reference, the Pistons' net rating last year when they went 17-65 and didn't have Cade Cunningham for most of the season was minus-7.9, four points better than Detroit’s performance so far in 2023-24.

Recent struggles suggest the Pistons may in fact be the worst of the terrible bunch. Over the last 10 games, the Pistons have a whopping minus-19 net rating, aided by the frequent blowout losses in the last two weeks, according to NBA stats.

To simplify, Detroit has given up an average of 125.6 points per game while just scoring 106 points per game over the last 10 and only had three losses within single digits.

There hasn’t been anything Detroit has been able to hang its hat on as an established identity to try to break the streak. The offense ranks 28th in offensive rating, averaging 106.9 points per 100 possessions, and the defense ranks 26th, surrendering an average of 118.7 points per 100 possessions.

The offense has been bogged down by bad shooting and an unwavering penchant for turnovers. Detroit ranks 23rd in field goal percentage (46.1%), 27th in true shooting percentage (55.4%) and dead last in three-point shooting (32.9%). Over the last 10 games, the field goal percentage dropped to 45.2%, 24th in the league in that time, while the true shooting dropped to 54.3% and the three-point percentage dropped to 29.5%, both last in the league in that span.

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Turnovers have been a season-long issue for the Pistons. Detroit is 29th in the league in total turnovers, averaging 16.5 giveaways a game, just ahead of the Utah Jazz. Cade Cunningham averages four turnovers per game, tied for second-most in the NBA with Luka Doncic, behind Trae Young. Five other Pistons — Jaden Ivey, Ausar Thompson, Killian Hayes, Marvin Bagley, and Isaiah Stewart — average at least one turnover a game.

The defense has continued to slide after it looked like a potential building block in the first week of the season. Head coach Monty Williams emphasized defensive improvement as the team’s way forward, but the Pistons still give up points at one of the league’s highest rates, just like last season.

Detroit is giving up an average of 120.4 points per game this season, good for 25th in the NBA, and has a defensive rating of 118.7, one point worse than the team’s defensive rating in 2022-23. Teams are shooting 48.6% from the field and 37.4% from three-point range when playing Detroit, both of which are bottom 10 marks across the league defensively.

Over the last 10 games, Detroit has given up an average of 125.6 points per game and holds a defensive rating of 120.9, 26th-best in the NBA in that time. Opponents’ field goal percentage jumped up to 51.1% overall and 38.7% from three.

Another issue outside of not forcing missed shots has been a lack of turnovers to offset the sheer number of giveaways on the offensive end of the court. Detroit is second-to-last in the NBA in forced turnovers, only generating 12.3 opponent giveaways per game.

Injuries have played a part in the miserable stretch for the Pistons, who have had to continuously tinker lineups to deal with players in and out of the lineup. But the numbers show that no matter who takes the court for Detroit, it has all been bad this season.

Cunningham has been the Pistons' best, most consistent player in his return from injury. In his return from shin surgery that kept him out of 70 games last season, Cunningham is averaging 21.4 points, seven assists (1.75 assist-to-turnover ratio) and 3.8 rebounds on 42.2% shooting from the field and 31.5% from three.

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Other young pieces like rookie Ausar Thompson and second-year guard Jaden Ivey have shown promise as a potential cornerstone for the franchise. But those moments have yet to lead to wins for the team and they struggle to perform consistently on a night-to-night basis with the quick turnarounds built into the NBA schedule.

“We all hate where it’s gotten,” Cunningham said Saturday night in the locker room following the Bucks loss. “We can’t believe that it’s gotten to this point. But it is what it is. We gotta fight through it. That’s one of the main things that I’ve been trying to challenge myself with, is fight through it every day, through bumps, bruises. I don’t want to allow that to take me away from it. I know how hard it is for the group. For everybody, we just need all hands on board. I’ve been trying to personally take that on and just weather the storm. It’s hard, but I don’t want to hide from it. There’s nowhere to hide.”

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Pistons losing streak: Net rating one of worst in NBA history