The Nets were blown out by the Detroit Pistons 114-80, behind a monster game from All-Star center Andre Drummond.
Brooklyn (15-26) was unable to catch a break after dropping their third game in a row at the Barclays Center—two nights after a heartbreaking loss to the Toronto Raptors—as the Pistons (22-18) absolutely dominated the Nets through four quarters.
It was a rare outing for the Nets who, despite their losing record, have managed to stay in games throughout the season, but on Wednesday night they had no answers for the Pistons.
From the start both teams seemed to be on pace for a solid offensive showing, with Brooklyn shooting a respectable 45 percent from the field. However, it was Detroit’s shooting that shined, taking a 34-26 lead off 56 percent shooting, with starting forward Tobias Harris scoring 14 of his 22 points in the first quarter.
“Give them a lot of credit. We got off to a decent start and then they dominated us the rest of the way in every phase of the game,” said Brooklyn Nets Coach Kenny Atkinson after the game.
The Nets had no answer for the Pistons who continued their hot shooting through the rest of the game finishing with a total 51.6 shooting percentage from the field.
But Detroit’s defense was equally as efficient, dismantling Brooklyn’s fast paced offense with their physical defensive play. Not only did the Nets shoot 36.5 percent from the field, but they gave up 23 points on 20 turnovers, seven of which were in the second quarter alone.
The Nets inability to find a rhythm offensively was just the beginning of their problems against Detroit who out rebounded them 54-35, which led to 19 second chance point. It was Drummond in particular who owned the paint grabbing 20 boards to go along with his 22 points.
“Dre was a beast on offensive boards so they got even more shots,” said starting point guard Spencer Dinwiddie.
The Nets couldn’t contain Drummond, who just manhandled Brooklyn’s bigs and took advantage of their undersized lineup.
Between second chance opportunities and their physicality, the Pistons completely took the Nets out of the game by the second quarter and never looked back, giving Brooklyn their worst home loss of the season.
“They basically had control of the game,” said Allen Crabbe who scored 20 points for the Nets. “It was embarrassing to lose by 30 at home, that sucks.”
The only positive for Brooklyn was Crabbe, who was doubtful before the game after suffering a shin injury during the closing minutes of their loss to the Raptors on Monday night as he shot a team high 63.6 percent from the field and hit five three-pointers.
“This definitely wasn’t us, definitely wasn’t our competitiveness, grit and all that defines us,” continued Crabbe after the game. “We just didn’t play with that tonight, so you see the results when you take a step back—they just had their way with us.”
Adding to the dominant performance by the Pistons were rookie guard out of Duke University, Luke Kennard with 13 points and 6 rebounds, and two-way prospect Dwight Buycks with 17 points and 3 assists.
Despite the blowout loss Atkinson and his players maintained a positive attitude and put their focuses on games to come.
“I’ve been very pleased with how the guys have been playing, how they have been competing–tonight we fell off a cliff a little bit. Now we gotta go to Atlanta and get this one back,” said Atkinson.
The Nets, who will travel to Atlanta to face the Hawks on Friday, fell to 15-26 this season and 8-12 at Barclays Center with the loss against Detroit.
