The Detroit Pistons Haven’t Won A Playoff Game Since 2008

TheNBA, keeping Detroit out of the win column for the 15th straight playoff game.

Pistons Have Now Lost 15 Straight Playoff Games

This year, the upstart and surprise Pistons earned their first trip to the postseason since 2019. The years between have been some of the worst in franchise history, as they became a laughingstock for the league by winning no more than 23 games in five straight seasons.

But they turned things around in 2024-25, and entered the current postseason as the 6th seed in the Eastern Conference. The Pistons earned a matchup with the Knicks, and were looking to snap a miserable streak. All they need to do is win a single game.

Saturday’s loss makes it 15 straight postseason defeats for Detroit. Their last win came in the 2008 Conference Finals, which they would fall short in against the eventual champion Boston Celtics.

The last time the Detroit Pistons won a playoff game was on May 26, 2008

This was their starting lineup 😳 pic.twitter.com/olM6whf2sF

— Fullcourt (@Fullcourt) April 19, 2025

Chauncey Billups was on that Pistons team. As were Tayshaun Prince, Richard Hamilton, and Rasheed Wallace. George W. Bush was the President of the United States. The original iPhone had been released less than a year before.

Detroit has qualified for three postseasons since, and all have resulted in four game sweeps in the first round.

They almost snapped the streak on Saturday. The Pistons were up by 8 heading into the final quarter, but were outsocred by the Knicks 40-21 in the final frame. Combined with the two losses to end the series in 2008, plus the three sweeps since then, it makes for the round number of 15 straight losses.

They’ll get another chance on Monday. Game 2 is set to tip off in New York at 7:30pm, and the Pistons will enter as 6.5-point underdogs. Their odds should get better when the series shifts to Detroit, though.