The Pistons called a time-out with 4:32 left in the fourth quarter, shortly after Nets guard Darius Morris had put in a tough shot inside to cut Detroit’s lead to two.

That was just about where it ended, as the Nets lost three turnovers in the span of 74 seconds and the Pistons rode Brandon Jennings and Greg Monroe to the finish line.

The good: the Nets competed with arguably the hottest team in the NBA for 44 minutes, and could’ve taken one on the road on the second half of a back-to-back. They controlled the ball well in the first half, and there were moments of ball movement that looked like a real offense. This wasn’t a hopeless game, just a rough one against a talented team that’s turning their season around, not unlike the Nets did last year.

But not even Brook Lopez’s first career regular season three-pointer could salvage this one, and with a brutal schedule ahead, they need to close out these close ones.

GIF of the game:

Brook Lopez

C

The stats: 11 PTS, 3-9 FG, 14 REB

Foul trouble (some questionable calls) limited his effectiveness and his shot selection is still dubious at best, but I thought his overall play wasn’t as bad as his shooting might indicate.

It was like inverse Brook Lopez: he played solid interior defense, looked a little quicker than usual, and grabbed eight rebounds in the first half, but only hit one shot, a pretty twisting fadeaway from the left corner.

At least he made this in the fourth quarter.