Nets fall to lowly Pistons to begin longest road trip of season
Nets forward Mikal Bridges passes the ball as Pistons guard Cade Cunningham defends during the first half of an NBA game Thursday in Detroit. Credit: AP/Carlos Osorio
DETROIT — The bad news kept coming for the Nets on Thursday.
About 12 hours after learning that Ben Simmons will be out the rest of the season with a nerve impingement in his lower back, the Nets were defeated by one of the worst teams in the NBA.
They lost to Detroit, 118-112, in front of a sparse crowd at Little Caesars Arena as the Pistons improved to 10-52 with their second victory in the last 11 games.
The Nets (25-38) dropped 3 1⁄2 games behind the Hawks, who are in 10th place in the Eastern Conference and hold the final play-in spot.
Suffice to say, it was not the way the Nets wanted to start their longest road trip of the season. The trip continues with games at Charlotte, Cleveland, Orlando and Indiana.
“We’re missing a lot of dudes, but we can’t make excuses,” said Nick Claxton, who had 15 points and 10 rebounds. “I feel like every game is a must-win with us trying to make the playoffs. We just can’t get that far behind.”
The Nets, who were playing without Simmons, Cam Thomas, Cam Johnson and Day’Ron Sharpe, fell behind by 18 points in the first quarter. They tied the score at 98 in the fourth quarter but couldn’t get the scoring or the stops they needed down the stretch and were outrebounded 50-28.
The Pistons were led by Jaden Ivey’s 34 points and Cade Cunningham’s 32 points and 11 assists.
Dennis Schroder had 31 points and eight assists and Lonnie Walker IV added 21 points off the bench for the Nets, but Mikal Bridges continued his scoring struggles.
With so many missing shooters, Bridges often draws the majority of attention from opposing defenses. Against the Pistons, he scored 13 points, shot 4-for-11 and had one rebound.
Said Bridges: “Personally, I just have to be better. I have to do better than this.”
Barbara Barker is an award-winning columnist and features writer in the sports department at Newsday. She has covered sports in New York for more than 20 years.
