A poor start to Saturday night’s matchup against the Detroit Pistons looked like Kevin Ollie’s squad was well on its way to the 48th loss of the season.
The Nets trailed by as many as 19 points to the league-worst Pistons, but a late 19-0 run in the final five minutes charged Brooklyn to a 113-103 victory.
Guard Dennis Schröder scored nine of the final 19 points and 12 in the final period while center Nic Claxton recorded two key blocks in the final moments to keep the Pistons at bay. The second block of the sequence, a rejection of Detroit’s Troy Brown Jr.’s floater, required official review. The block was initially deemed goaltending but after review, officials reversed the call.
On the next possession, Schroder assisted Jalen Wilson on a three-pointer to put his team up eight with 40.1 seconds remaining. The dagger essentially secured Brooklyn’s second straight win.
In a game the Nets entered as 10.5-point underdogs, they trailed by double digits most of the way and nine entering the final period. A loss would’ve been another embarrassing blow in a lost season. To make matter worse, Monty Williams’ squad entered on a second game of a back-to-back without two of its best players.
Young star Cade Cunningham missed Saturday’s game due to a knee injury and budding center Jalen Duren’s ankle kept him on the sidelines. Former Knick guards Quentin Grimes and Evan Fournier also didn’t play due to their injuries.
Cam Thomas continued his consistent play, leading his team with 32 points, five assists and six rebounds. His performance did enough to undo 12 first-half turnovers, which is one shy of Brooklyn’s average per game. The turnovers allowed the road team to lead by as many as 15 points in the opening periods and go into halftime up 11.
The Nets eventually ended with 18 turnovers, eight more than their opponents. Twenty-six points off turnovers resulted in each Detroit starter (except James Wiseman) to score at least 15 points.
Detroit’s Chimezie Metu was perfect from the field, 9-for-9, and finished with 20 points and seven rebounds. Marcus Sasser, who started in place of the injured Cunningham, contributed 18 points, a decent uptick from his 7.5-point average entering Saturday.
Guard Jordan Ivey contributed 16 points, 10 assists and four rebounds.
The Nets narrowly secured their 31st win of the season without sharpshooter Cam Johnson (toe) and Dennis Smith Jr. (hip). The injuries allowed Noah Clowney to enjoy extra minutes, and he impressed. Clowney swatted four shots while making six of his seven attempts (17 points) from the field. He also grabbed six rebounds.
Schroder finished with 24 points and six assists, Mikal Bridges dropped 13 and Wilson scored 10 off the bench. Dorian Finney-Smith missed all three shots from downtown and scored two points but grabbed seven rebounds.
