The Detroit Pistons have resumed their losing streak after ending their previous 28-game streak against the Toronto Raptors in December. In the first 35 games of the season, the team has lost 32 games already and has only 3 wins to show for it. The Pistons tied the record for the NBA’s longest losing streak recently. However, the Detroit side is nearing another embarrassing record that is bound to bring more infamy to the team.

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The Pistons’ current 3-32 record is eerily similar to the 1972-73 Philadelphia 76ers’ 3-32 start to the season. The 1972-73 Sixers finished with a record of 9-73, which is the worst in the NBA’s history for an 82-game season. Will the Pistons finish with fewer than nine wins when the season ends? That’s a question that will bother Detroit fans, who already seem to be done with the team this year.

With 47 games remaining, there is a high possibility that the Pistons will finish with more than 70 losses. There have been six instances of teams finishing with losses exceeding the 70 mark. The most recent instance came in 2015-16 when the Philadelphia 76ers finished with a horrible 10-72 record. Therefore, the 76ers franchise holds the record for two of the worst seasons in NBA history.

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In the 1990s, there are two instances of teams not being able to win more than 12 games. During the 1997-98 season, the Nuggets won just 11 and lost 71. Meanwhile, the Dallas Mavericks had a similar record during the 1992-93 season. In the preceding decade, the Los Angeles Clippers had registered a 12-70 record whereas New Jersey Nets had a 12-70 ratio during the 2009-10 season. 

Therefore, the Pistons are on the verge of an unwanted record. If they do register fewer than 9 wins, they will be the first team in NBA history to do so. Interestingly, a 9-73 record is the reverse of the Warriors’ 73-9 record in the 2015-16 season.

The Pistons have a young team, led by a talented star in Cade Cunningham. As many analysts have pointed out, the team doesn’t seem to be as terrible as their record suggests. However, the absence of a veteran star in the team has resulted in the side often losing direction during crucial moments in games. Moreover, every team is currently giving their best to not be the side to lose to the Pistons. In any case, the Pistons are in desperate need for a trade before the February deadline if they want to avoid the abysmal 9-73 record.

Will the Detroit Pistons end up with the worst win percentage?

While the 76ers also endured 28 losses in succession in 2015, it happened through the course of two seasons. Currently, the Pistons are undergoing another three-game losing streak and are setting another unpleasant precedent. 

They have lodged just an 8.6% win percentage and are on track to dislodge the worst win percentage holder in the NBA, the Charlotte Bobcats. During the lockout-shortened 2011-12 season, the Bobcats had just 7 wins and lost 59, which gave them the worst-ever winning percentage of 10.6%, which is just 0.4% worse than the 1972-73 Sixers.

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Will the Pistons be able to avoid the fate of becoming the first team to win less than 10% of their games? A lot would depend on what Monty Williams does to rally his troops in the new year.

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