After five straight games that went down to the wire, something had to give for the Nets. The numbers say they were due for a blowout, but with back-to-back heartbreakers, the expectation was for the Nets to come out Wednesday night motivated for a win.
Instead, lifeless Brooklyn was blown out of the water by the Detroit Pistons, 114-80. Detroit led by as many as 40 points in the fourth quarter, and the 34-point loss was Brooklyn’s largest margin of defeat in Barclays Center history.
Andre Drummond was an absolute beast, putting up a 20-20 game in just 30 minutes. His full stat line ended up being 22 points, 20 rebounds and five assists in 31 minutes. The Nets had no one to match him, and he got whatever he wanted, minus one stuff by Jarrett Allen.
That's a N? https://t.co/vbqz31rP8m
— Brooklyn Nets (@BrooklynNets) January 11, 2018
Tobias Harris was also a Nets killer, who put up 22 points on the night, 14 of those coming in the first quarter.
The most consistent threat offensively on a night the Nets shot 36.5 percent from the field and 32.4 from three was Allen Crabbe, who put up the first back-to-back 20+ point games of his career. He has found success from three the past two games and has not been afraid to shoot the ball.
The Nets relied too much on the three ball but it just was not falling, finishing with 12 made shots on 37 attempts.
Brooklyn held a four-point lead early in the game, but Detroit quickly took over by capitalizing on turnovers (the Nets had 20 of them) and getting to the paint. The Pistons held a 58-26 advantage in points in the paint over the Nets, powered by Drummond. Brooklyn was also out-rebounded 54-35 and grabbed just two offensive rebounds.
Spencer Dinwiddie, originally drafted by the Pistons, failed to have a revenge game, registering just two points on 1-of-5 shooting. His first three shots came at least from 35 feet and early in the shot clock. The Steph Curry mindset did not work for him today.
If fatigue is what hit the Nets today, they do not have much time to recover. The team has one day off before a back-to-back trip on the road starting Friday against the Hawks.
Which Nets team will show up? That’s the million-dollar question.
Allen Crabbe
B-
The stats: 20 PTS, 7-11 FG, 5-9 3FG, 1-1 FT, 3 REB, 3 AST, 2 TOV, 1 STL, 1 BLK, 26 MIN
Crabbe did a little bit of everything tonight and was seemingly the only Net prepared to play. After dropping 20 points against the Raptors, Crabbe replicated that result with a bit of a higher efficiency. For a guy that was doubtful to play today, he gave his all.
It’s also good to see him getting his shooting groove and confidence back.
Spencer Dinwiddie
D
The stats: 2 PTS, 1-5 FG, 0-3 3FG, 3 REB, 3 AST, 1 TOV, 26 MIN
We were all ready for Dinwiddie to drop 30 points against his old team, but he showed none of that side of him tonight. His shot selection was atrocious; I don’t want to see him pull up from 40 feet contested unless the shot clock is almost up, but yet he still does it.
Perhaps the Pistons had their eye on him, but Dinwiddie needs a reset.
Rondae Hollis-Jefferson
C+
The stats: 15 PTS, 3-8 FG, 0-1 3FG, 9-10 FT, 7 REB, 3 AST, 2 TOV, 3 STL, 28 MIN
RHJ showed some hustle with his three steals and 10 trips to the line. Without him, who knows where the Nets would have ended up tonight.