On a slow Sunday afternoon at the Barclays Center, the Brooklyn Nets saw their two-game winning streak snapped by the Detroit Pistons in a 106-92 loss. A strong first half showed promise, but the Nets’ season-long tendency for third-quarter failures doomed any hopes of extending their record to 4-3 in the 2024-25 campaign.

The first quarter was tough for any Brooklyn player not named Cam Johnson. After Friday night’s big win, the Nets looked sluggish early. The Ben Simmons-Johnson connection started hot, connecting on two corner threes out of the gate, but Brooklyn’s offense went cold from that point on. Detroit took advantage, going on a 6-0 run and building a small but steady lead while responding to any offensive output the Nets put up.

Rebounds and free throws hurt Brooklyn the most in the first 12 minutes, as the Nets were outscored by five while committing two free-ball fouls and making just 1 of 4 from the charity stripe. In an ugly performance against last place in the Eastern Conference, Johnson had 13 quick points but Brooklyn trailed 28-25 through one quarter.

Neither team really settled into their respective offenses due to a rash of foul calls from officials. The Nets orchestrated a 16-6 run to regain the lead, but were unable to build a bigger cushion due to the number of referee stops. Brooklyn shot much better from the free throw line in the second quarter, thanks to the large number of attempts they were given.

The only beneficiary of the Nets’ offense was Johnson, who scored 22 points, only the second time in his career that he finished a first half above the 20-point mark. Cam Thomas had a quiet start to add seven, but the 28 total fouls kept the stars of both teams from really getting involved. Despite the whistle fest, Brooklyn held a 57-52 advantage at halftime.

As has been the case all season, the Nets came out flat in the third quarter. The next 12 minutes after halftime gave Brooklyn problems, and this afternoon was no different. Dorian Finney-Smith had an impressive sequence that was the highlight of the Nets’ performance after the break, with a foul plus bucket and a three-pointer on consecutive possessions.

Unfortunately, that was the ceiling of Brooklyn’s performance in the third quarter, as it was all Pistons away. Led by Tobias Harris’ seven points, Detroit went on a 22-8 run to end the stanza. As Harris repeatedly hit from midrange, the Pistons erased the Nets’ once-small lead and regained the lead for the first time since the score was 37-36. The sloppy offense persisted for Brooklyn, which found itself trailing 83-77 heading into the fourth.

Things came late early for the Nets, which was signified by the buyout of Malik Beasley. The veteran two-guard buried a fadeaway corner three as the shot clock expired, biting into the Brooklyn bench as he got back on defense. That sequence started the Nets’ downward spiral as the house began to unravel. Detroit led by as many as 14 points down the stretch thanks to the overall contribution of JB Bickerstaff’s starting five.

At the final buzzer, the Pistons boasted six double-digit scorers, outscored Brooklyn by 15 and stole a road victory from a Nets team full of momentum. The home loss ended Thomas’ 20-point streak at Barclays Center at 12, as the NBA’s leading scorer in the fourth quarter couldn’t dig his team out of the hole it dug itself into in the second period.

Now back under .500, Brooklyn concludes its home stretch tomorrow night against the Memphis Grizzlies at 8 p.m. EST.

To access the final score of the Brooklyn Nets’ defeat against the Detroit Pistons, Click here.

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