FOLLOWING A SIX-POINT loss to the Brooklyn Nets, the Detroit Pistons had just set the all-time mark for consecutive losses in a single season in NBA history, dropping 27 in a row. It was Dec. 26 ...

In mid-February, the second of ESPN's three NBA most valuable player straw polls showed Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander with a comfortable -- if not ironclad -- lead over ...