Detroit Pistons set NBA record for longest losing streak in a single season

 The Detroit Pistons now have an unfortunate record all to themselves – and another one is in reach.

The Pistons on Tuesday set the NBA record for the longest losing streak in a single season, dropping their 27th consecutive game with a 112-118 loss to the Brooklyn Nets in Detroit.

Detroit could soon tie the NBA’s overall record losing streak, which is 28 games lost. The Philadelphia 76ers hold the overall mark, which spanned two seasons – the end of the 2014-2015 season and start of the next one.

The Pistons’ loss Tuesday came despite 41 points from guard Cade Cunningham. Cameron Johnson and Mikal Bridges led the Nets with 24 and 21 points, respectively.

“We’ve got to stay together,” Cunningham told reporters after Tuesday’s game, when asked whether he had a message for his team. “Right now is the easiest time to stand off and be on your own, but we need to continue to lean on each other, and continue to push each other and hold each other accountable, more than ever now.”

The Pistons briefly held a lead early in the fourth quarter Tuesday before relinquishing it, and a Cunningham drive cut the Nets’ lead to 2 with about a minute left. But the Nets’ Dorian Finney-Smith hit a 3-pointer from the corner in the next possession, and Brooklyn cruised from there.

The 2010-2011 Cleveland Cavaliers and 2013-2014 Philadelphia 76ers shared the previous one-season mark at 26 games lost.

Detroit could tie the NBA’s overall losing-streak record of 28 games on Thursday, when they play the Celtics in Boston.

The Pistons’ last win came on October 28, when they defeated the Chicago Bulls. The team’s season record now stands at 2-28.

The losing streak is a disappointment for a team that has tried to rebuild through youth the last few seasons with high draft picks – including Cunningham with the No. 1 overall pick in 2021, and Ausar Thompson with the No. 5 pick this year – and by luring coach Monty Williams to the club this year with a hefty contract.

 Carlton Morris: Police investigating alleged racist remark towards Luton forward

Police are investigating an alleged racist remark aimed at Luton striker Carlton Morris during his side's Boxing Day win at Sheffield United.

Morris came off the bench to play a pivotal role in two Blades own goals in four minutes in a 3-2 win.

Luton said South Yorkshire Police have spoken to the forward.

In response, Sheffield United reiterated their "zero-tolerance approach" to racism and said they were assisting police.

"There is no place for this behaviour in football, or society as a whole," they added in a statement.

The Blades fought back from 1-0 down to lead 2-1 before the two own goals helped the visitors move six points clear of bottom-of-the-table United.

"There was an alleged racist comment," said Luton manager Rob Edwards.

"The police are dealing with it. They have spoken to Carlton and got his take on it, so it is with them now; I have no more comment on it. He is alright - he was, at the time, pretty angry but he seems fine now."

Morris first reported the issue to referee Sam Allison, who became the first black referee to officiate a Premier League match in 15 years, and the fourth official on the sidelines.

Speaking to Amazon Prime, the 28-year-old forward said: "The Premier League have been great at telling us protocols and explaining that to us.

"I heard something from the crowd in the front row [of a Sheffield United section] and I just knew it's best to get that reported straight away and let them deal with it from there."

Morris played a key role in the two own goals which were turned into their own net by Jack Robinson and Anis Ben Slimane.

 Chris Wood scored a hat-trick on his return to St James' Park as Nottingham Forest ended a seven-game winless run with a stunning Premier League victory at Newcastle.

The result moves Forest up to 16th in the table and five points clear of the bottom three prior to Tuesday's other fixtures.

Alexander Isak had seemingly put Eddie Howe's side in control when he stroked home a penalty midway through the first half after going down under a challenge from Ola Aina.

But Newcastle only sporadically threatened in attack and always looked vulnerable to a rejigged Forest side set up to counter-attack at pace.

Morgan Gibbs-White dragged an early effort wide for the visitors, while Anthony Elanga missed two excellent opportunities before combining with the former England Under-21 midfielder to allow Wood to tap in a deserved equaliser against his old employers before the break.

Wood, who was Howe's second signing on Tyneside, added to his tally shortly after the interval, racing on to Elanga's pass and shimmying past home defender Dan Burn to lift the ball over goalkeeper Martin Dubravka.

He capped a fine display with another composed finish after Murillo's through ball sent him clear of an absent Newcastle defence.

Elanga and Gibbs-White both had chances to inflict further damage on the hosts, who remain seventh in the table after their fourth defeat in five Premier League games.

Steve Cooper was sacked as Forest manager a week ago after presiding over a run of just one win in 13 top-flight games.

On this evidence, replacement Nuno Espirito Santo appears to have already begun to implement his own ideas to deliver some Christmas cheer to the City Ground.

Having made six changes to the starting XI that lost against Bournemouth on Saturday, he was rewarded by a purposeful display that saw Forest repeatedly cut through the visiting defence with some incisive counter-attacking.

Wood's sharpness in front of goal belied the fact he was only starting his fifth league game of the season, having largely been utilised as a substitute by Cooper.

While the New Zealand striker will rightly take the plaudits for his match-winning contribution, others in red also excelled.

Forest captain Gibbs-White, who got the better of Bruno Guimaraes in midfield, could also arguably lay claim to being the game's outstanding player and ought really to have capped a fine display with a couple of goals.

And aside from some wasteful finishing and a poor decision not to slide another first-half pass across to Wood, Elanga provided an excellent outlet for Forest on the right.

 49ers grades in blowout Christmas night loss to Ravens Rushing offense

SANTA CLARA — After six consecutive victories of at least 12-point margins, the 49ers learned what it’s like to be on the other side Monday night.

The Baltimore Ravens came to town and pummeled the 49ers in a supposed matchup of NFL powerhouses.

The Ravens lived up to the billing, and the 49ers looked like pushovers in a 33-19 loss to the AFC’s top team on Christmas night at Levi’s Stadium.

Let’s get right to the report card, and you can be sure it will not be the kind of present the 49ers wanted to see under their tree:

Rushing offense

Running back Christian McCaffrey had a typical Christian McCaffrey game, but it made little difference on this night.

The league’s leading rusher gained 103 yards and one touchdown on 14 rushing attempts

The 49ers gained 121 yards on the night, with Sam Darnold checking in with a 9-yard scramble to be the team’s second-leading rusher.

The 49ers’ only problem with the run game is that they were not able to avoid giveaways. If they had taken care of the ball better, they would have been able to keep drives going and produce a greater volume of run plays.

 What we learned as Purdy struggles in 49ers' Christmas loss to Ravens

SANTA CLARA — The 49ers simply were not ready for prime time Monday night.

Quarterback Brock Purdy, who entered the week as the top NFL MVP candidate, had the worst game of his football life.

And the Baltimore Ravens took full advantage of all the 49ers’ shortcomings in rolling to a 33-19 blowout victory at Levi’s Stadium on Christmas night.

It was just the third time in NFL history that teams with the best records in each conference matched up in December or later since the 1970 AFL-NFL merger. The Ravens, now 12-3, showed why they entered as the top team in the AFC.

The 49ers? Not so much.

This game did not live up to the anticipation, as San Francisco simply was overmatched in every which way.

 

Purdy admits trait he must change after four-pick game vs. Ravens

SANTA CLARA — Brock Purdy’s will to win was on full display in the 49ers’ 33-19 loss to the Baltimore Ravens, and while that’s mostly a good thing, the quarterback will need to adjust his decision-making moving forward.

Purdy uncharacteristically threw four interceptions in the loss, but his third might have been his worst decision. Several penalty flags already were on the field when the quarterback lofted the ball up for George Kittle but was intercepted by Ravens safety Kyle Hamilton.

“I saw some flags thrown as I was scrambling,” Purdy said. “Not exactly sure of what or who it was on, and so my mind was trying to make a play. And honestly, I can't make a bad play worse. I have to know that.

For me to throw across my body back in the middle of the field with a guy on George, that's very dumb of me. So, I’ve got to throw the ball away and live to fight another play, and punt and be willing to punt. So, that's something I have to learn from the hard way.”

At the time, Purdy’s desire to make up for his two previous interceptions influenced his decision-making. At the time, the 49ers were only down five points with a lot of game left to play.

Purdy realizes it’s not all on himself to win the game, or force plays when they might not be there, but he felt the need to make up for his mistakes. Sometimes, however, the better decision is to send the punt unit out onto the field.

“I think it's easier to do so when you don't have that many turnovers going on, or the game is a close game,” Purdy said. “But when things are in my mind of, all right, you've messed up a couple times, I have to find a way to make a play.

Los Angeles Dodgers agree to historic deal with Japanese pitching sensation Yoshinobu Yamamoto, per reports

Los Angeles Dodgers agree to historic deal with Japanese pitching sensation Yoshinobu Yamamoto, per reports

Japanese 

Yoshinobu Yamamoto pitches in the eighth inning against Mexico during the World Baseball Classic Semifinals.



Eric Espada/Getty ImagH.B
H.B INTERNATIONAL SPORT NEWS —

The Los Angeles Dodgers’ offseason keeps getting better and better.

The Dodgers have agreed to a 12-year, $325 million deal with Japanese pitching sensation Yoshinobu Yamamoto, according to ESPN’s Jeff Passan, citing unnamed sources.

According to Passan, the Dodgers will pay an additional posting fee of $50.6 million and Yamamoto’s deal is the largest for a pitcher in MLB history, beating New York Yankee pitcher Gerrit Cole’s contract by $1 million.

The 25-year-old made the switch to Major League Baseball (MLB) this offseason after he was posted as a free agent by Japan’s Orix Buffaloes back in November.

Yamamoto impressed during the early part of his career, being awarded the Eiji Sawamura Award – given to the top starting pitcher in Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) – on three occasion

This is what happened in sport during January 2023

This is what happened in sport during January 2023

 (H.B International Sport News)__2023 has been a year not at all like some other in sport.