The last time the Detroit Pistons won 13 in a row was their 2003-04 championship season.
The Pistons could not break that record this season because Jaylen Brown and the Boston Celtics stood in their way. Brown scored 33 points and pulled down 10 rebounds, then Derrick White took over late with 11 points in the game’s final minutes to lift the Celtics to a 117-114 win at home.
The loss drops the Pistons to 2-1 in NBA Cup games, but they can still win East Group B and advance to the quarterfinals with a home win against Orlando on Friday.
Payton Pritchard added 16 points for Boston, which has now won 5-of-6 games.
Cade Cunningham scored 42 for the Pistons. The last two of those came in the game’s final seconds, when Detroit was down three and, as Cunningham was bringing the ball up court the Celtics tried to follow him at midcourt but Cunningham saw it coming and went up with a shot. After a review, Cunningham was awarded three free throws, and hit the first two but missed the third. Pritchard grabbed the rebound, hit two free throws to seal the Boston win.