We now return to our regularly scheduled programming.
After ending a season-opening, seven-game losing streak Wednesday at Indiana, the Nets fell back into familiar habits in their first NBA Cup game of the season, kicking off their next potential skid with Friday’s 125-107 loss to the Pistons at Barclays Center. The Nets (1-8), who are 0-5 at home this season, return to action Sunday against the Knicks at Madison Square Garden.
The Nets went cold after blowing an early 10-point lead, but it was the Nets’ league-worst defense that shouldered most of the blame.
The Pistons (7-2) shot nearly 58 percent from the field despite making 6 of 26 3-pointers, inflated by an absurd 80 points in the paint.
Detroit Pistons guard Ausar Thompson looks to shoot over a defending Brooklyn Nets guard Egor Demin in the first half at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, November 7, 2025. JASON SZENES/ NY POST“We let them live in the paint and we shouldn’t have,” Nets forward Noah Clowney said. “We knew going into the game we shouldn’t have done that and we still let them live in the paint. They got big guys all sitting in the paint and you keep letting them get layups and dunks, it’s gonna be efficient.”
Brooklyn’s interior defense was ripped straight from the playbook of the Washington Generals, allowing a comically constant flow of highlight dunks to the Pistons.
Cade Cunningham (34 points, 10 assists) used a windmill to thrill the packed crowd. Jalen Duren (30 points, 11 rebounds) produced powerful gasps, threatening to rip down the rim.
- CHECK OUT THE LATEST NBA STANDINGS AND NETS STATS
“A lot of those were lack of a low man, when their bigs were rolling because we were trying to be aggressive with Cade,” Nets coach Jordi Fernández said. “But we didn’t stop Cade and we didn’t stop the rollers. All of those things were hard to deal with. … We need to understand, we need to be more focused, we need to be on point. It got to a point that we dropped our shoulders.”
Michael Porter Jr. scored a team-high 28 points, but Clowney (19 points) carried Brooklyn at the start, scoring 12 points on 4-of-5 shooting from 3-point range, in the first four minutes. The third-year forward opened the week averaging 4.3 points on 23.3 percent shooting from the field — missing nine straight 3s in his previous three games — but has scored at least 15 points in his past three games.
Detroit — which won its Eastern Conference-best fifth straight game — led 60-55 at halftime, then took control for good with a 12-2 run to open the third quarter, finishing with 26 points off 20 Brooklyn turnovers. Detroit led by as many as 24.
Brooklyn Nets center Nic Claxton (R) drives to the basket past a defending Detroit Pistons center Jalen Duren (L) in the first half at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, November 7, 2025. JASON SZENES/ NY POST“They ended up fighting their rhythm and doing what they do with their ball pressure and their physicality and we didn’t handle it well,” Fernández said. “I told the guys I was proud of their effort. We just gotta be better. We all believe and feel we can be better than this.”
It was domination, but also inspiration.
Before last season, the Pistons hadn’t won a playoff game in 17 years. They hadn’t had a winning season in nine years. They hadn’t reached the playoffs in six years.
They had averaged fewer than 19 wins during a five-year stretch before last season’s breakthrough 44-win campaign.
One day, the Nets may get there, too. But not before many more nights like this.
