Earlier this week, the Pistons’ Jalen Duren stood in the visitors’ locker room in Atlanta, celebrating both his 22nd birthday and his team’s 11th straight victory. The music was loud, the mood was light and even a question about the dark days earlier in his NBA career failed to dim any of it for Detroit’s young center.

It was only two seasons ago that he and his teammates found themselves halfway to infamy, a dozen games into what would become the longest losing streak (28 games) in league history. Now the Pistons are off to their best start (13-2) in 20 years and sit just a couple wins shy of the franchise record for consecutive wins. And when Duren was asked to compare and contrast the feelings, he simply shook his head and smiled.

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