The Cleveland Cavaliers are on the cusp of some dubious sports history - the longest losing streak in the history of professional American sports. After losing to the Detroit Pistons 103-94 tonight at Quicken Loans Arena, the Cleveland Cavaliers losing streak stands at 26. That ties a mark set by the 1976-77 Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who, as an expansion team in the NFL didn't win a game until late in their second season. The Cavaliers aren't an expansion team, and to make matters worse are coming off 127 wins the past two seasons.
The Cavaliers were outscored 25-16 in the first quarter and trailed by 12 at halftime and never really recovered. They did get within 3 points in the 3rd quarter, 71-68, but the Pistons ended the quarter on a 10-2 run and never looked back. Antawn Jamison led the Cavaliers with 22 points and 7 rebounds, while Ramon Sessions scored 20 points to go along with 12 assists as Cleveland lost for the 36th time in 37 games.
Rodney Stuckey led the Pistons with 22 points off the bench and Detroit shot 9-19 from three point range(47.4%) to keep the Cavaliers at bay. The Pistons killed the Cavaliers on the offensive glass, grabbing 17 offensive boards to just 7 for the Cavaliers. Cleveland was also plagued by 17 turnovers. In a game many people thought the Cavaliers might be able to win, the home team came out flat.
The Story of the game was how the Cavaliers closed out quarters. Tied at 14 with 2:31 to go in the 1st quarter, the Pistons out-scored the Cavaliers 11-2. The Same thing happened in the 3rd quarter, as noted above.
Cleveland will play their next 7 games at home, interrupted by the All Star Game, and hope to get a win with the Los Angeles Clippers coming to town Friday night. If not, the Cavaliers will welcome the Washington Wizards to The Q on Sunday night. Washington is 0-25 on the road this season, setting up must-see TV if the Cavaliers streak is at 27 games heading into that game.