It’s been 1,823 days since the Motor City beat the Mecca.
Last night, the Knicks dominated the Pistons 128-98 in Detroit. It was relatively ho-hum, a title contender putting the hurt on a young team who’s looking to play some Capture the Flagg.
The most notable part about last night’s romping was that it was the sixteenth consecutive victory against the Pistons by the Knicks. It is the longest active streak in basketball and the fourth longest in team history (the longest is 21 straight vs Boston, 1993-98). The all-time record is 27. This is the 67th streak of 16+ games in league history.
The last time the Pistons beat the Knicks was November 6, 2019. That night, the 3-5 Pistons rocked the 1-6 David Fizdale Knicks at Little Caesars Area. Only one of the 24 players who suited up that night is still on their team: Mitchell Robinson. Marcus Morris Sr. and Julius Randle led the way for the Knicks, but they were overwhelmed by Andre Drummond’s 27-12-7 and a perfect efficiency 24-point performance by Tony Snell. That night was the eighth straight Pistons win over the Knicks, with that streak dating back to March 27, 2017.
On February 8, 2020, the Knicks edged out the Pistons 95-92 in a sad affair by two bad teams. Mike Miller’s Knicks were led by Wayne Ellington in scoring. Since then, the Knicks have dominated the Pistons, with ten of the sixteen wins being by double digits and five being by at least 24.
With five years to the day of the last loss coming up on Wednesday, let’s look back on what the world was like back then.
David Fizdale Coached the Knicks
God, that era was depressing. The Fizdale era didn’t survive November 2019, but he was still here when the last loss happened.
This is the fifth season by Tom Thibodeau and last night was his 178th win as a Knick in Game 323. At David Fizdale’s winning percentage, his 178th win as a Knick would come in Game 881. If you assume he was never fired, Fizdale would’ve finally picked up his 178th win in Game 5 of the 2028-29 season. It would’ve taken him 11 years.
Yuck.
Donald Trump was President
On Tuesday, America goes to the polls to elect its 47th president. The 45th president was in office during the last Pistons’ win. An entire presidential term has happened since. The next time the Pistons can break this streak, the next presidential administration will be in its transition phase. Oh yeah, this was also before his first impeachment, which feels much longer than just under five years ago.
If the Knicks can extend this two more games, we will officially have had two inaugurations since the last Pistons win. Isn’t that fun?
Patrick Mahomes was a zero-time Super Bowl Champion
Yeah. Wow. Mahomes burst onto the scene with his extremely rare 5,000-yard and 50-touchdown season in 2018, winning MVP. That said, his playoff legacy at this point was his controversial loss to Brady in the 2018 Conference Championship. Don’t worry, Pat, you became a Super Bowl champ just a few months later.
Eli Manning was still a Giant
Eli Manning has played in the NFL since the last Pistons’ win. At the time of the win, Daniel Jones was a rookie in New York who showed some promise. A late-season injury allowed Manning to pick up one final win on December 15 against the Miami Dolphins.
There Were Only Five Branches of the U.S. Military
This is just a place for me to mention that the Space Force exists. It was founded about 45 days later.
Gerrit Cole wasn’t a Yankee Yet
This was just one week after the Washington Nationals won Game 7 of the 2019 World Series, led by the since-retired Stephen Strasburg, now-Phillie Trea Turner, now-Ranger Max Scherzer, now-Angel Anthony Rendon (does he even like baseball anymore?), and the now-free agent Juan Soto.
Gerrit Cole, after the Astros failed to use him in the series-losing defeat, infamously donned a Boras Corp. hat in the postgame media scrum. Cole would sign with the Yankees in December and just finished his fifth season in the Bronx. Unfortunately, he hasn’t gotten that close to a ring since (it wasn’t his fault).
Bo Nix Was A Freshman In College
Bo Nix played a game of college football against Justin Herbert. I wish I was making that up.
For the Jets fans out there, Braelon Allen was a sophomore in high school. It’s still baffling that there is a 2004 baby in the NFL. We are all old.
Kevin Durant Hadn’t Played For the Nets Yet
This has an asterisk. Durant was a Net in November 2019, but his Achilles tear in the 2019 NBA Finals had him sidelined. It has felt like eons since our crosstown rivals gloated about their two max stars. The Knicks won more in two years with Jalen Brunson as a reminder.
The Coronavirus Didn’t Exist
The first confirmed case of COVID-19 was on December 31, 2019. As far as we’re concerned, the virus that changed everything didn’t exist the last time the Pistons beat the Knicks.
As far as we’re concerned, we live in an entirely different world than the one we lived in the last time the Knicks lost to the Pistons.
This is where the current Knicks’ roster was
Jalen Brunson: 2nd year with the Dallas Mavericks
Mikal Bridges: 2nd year with the Phoenix Suns
Josh Hart: Pelicans
OG Anunoby: 3rd year with the Toronto Raptors
Karl-Anthony Towns: Minnesota Timberwolves (obviously)
Deuce McBride: Freshman at West Virginia University
Cameron Payne: Shanxi Loongs (China)
Jericho Sims: Junior at the University of Texas
Tyler Kolek: Senior at St. George’s School
Pacome Dadiet: he was 14
Ariel Hukporti: Riesen Ludwigsburg
Mitchell Robinson: 2nd year as a Knick
Precious Achiuwa: Freshman at the University of Memphis