It was a moment almost made for a movie.
The NBA's worst team, losing 27 straight games, takes on the NBA's best team on its home court, a place it hasn't lost all season, and slays the dragon, figuratively and literally.
It would have been an inspirational film for the ages.
Instead, Detroit, the NBA's worst team, found itself in another horror movie, but this one with a sick, sick twist.
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How the Pistons, one of the NBA's most storied franchises, got screwed
The Pistons fell to the Celtics in overtime Thursday night, 128-122, after leading by 19 points at halftime. The franchise is now tied for the longest losing streak in NBA history (over two seasons) at 28. Detroit didn't do anything particularly different in the first 24 minutes. Kate Cunningham hit the shots, the defense was okay, and the Pistons still turned the ball over too much. Boston, however, shot 39 percent from the field and 17 percent from 3 while turning the ball over 10 times. It was the first time in a long time that an opposing team felt like they shot poorly against Detroit.
Once the Celtics tied the game to end the third quarter, it was a back-and-forth battle. The Pistons briefly trailed by six points late in the fourth quarter, but showed some composure late in the game to avoid crumbling in crunch time like they have for most of the season.
Detroit had several chances to take the lead in the seconds remaining in the fourth quarter, but Bojan Bogdanovic and Alec Burks — both shooting better than 38 percent for their careers — missed several wide-open looks.
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The Celtics had a two-point lead with 4.8 seconds left when Bogdanovic cleaned up Cunningham's missed 3-point attempt. Tatum missed a shot at the end of regulation that led to overtime.
In the extra period, Boston appeared to be the team that had earlier played aggressively, hitting shots and playing without mistakes. The Pistons shot less than 40 percent from the field and were 1-for-6 from 3.
Detroit will face the Raptors at home on Saturday and try to avoid loss No. 29.
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(Photo: Brian Fluhardy/Getty Images)
