Brooklyn rolled without Michael Porter Jr. once again. Detroit took advantage, by making franchise history.
The Brooklyn Nets hit the Detroit Pistons record books on Sunday.
And not a good type of franchise history either on Brooklyn's side.
The Pistons demolished a Michael Porter Jr.-less Nets team -- walloping Brooklyn with an astonishing 130-77 rout at the Little Caesar's Arena.
ClutchPoints confirmed the new futility the Nets hit on behalf of the Pistons: Detroit just delivered its most one-sided victory in franchise history.
How did things unravel for Brooklyn? And did the woes surface from the start?
Brooklyn actually scored first -- on an Egor Demin free throw following a technical foul. Fellow rookie Danny Wolf then followed by hitting a two-pointer to make it 3-0.
Demin later tacked on two more free throws to make it 5-2. Nic Claxton got a driving layup in next to make it 7-3. Even Nolan Traore attacked the hoop for his own driving layup -- making it 11-6 in favor of Brooklyn.
And that was the last time the Nets had a big lead.
Duncan Robinson sliced the lead to 11-9 off his 26-footer from behind the arc. Claxton responded with an alley-oop dunk that made it 13-9...which evaporated quick.
Detroit went on a 7-0 run to make it 16-13. The closest Brooklyn got was one-point on two occasions before the first quarter ended. Detroit took a 33-24 lead after the opening period.
Cam Thomas nailed a deep three that made it 33-32 in favor of the Pistons. But Jalen Duren got Detroit to pour it on from there. The Pistons turned a one-point lead into a 23-point advantage at the half.
Brooklyn never recovered -- settling for just 18 and 15 points in the third and fourth quarter, respectively.
The Nets shot 24-of-73 from field goal range and ended with just 33% shooting. Detroit clamped down on the Nets through three-point defense too -- surrendering only seven threes on 31 attempts (23% mark).
Brooklyn managed to pull down the same amount of rebounds (43) along with Detroit. The Nets also struggled to take care of the basketball -- with the Pistons grabbing 17 steals compared to Brooklyn's three.
Detroit battered the Nets down low too, out-scoring the visitors 70-30 with points in the paint.
Thomas and Drake Powell led the way with scoring -- but only at 12 points apiece. Claxton finished scoring 10 points. Day'Ron Sharpe and Jalen Wilson delivered eight points apiece too off the bench. Wolf scored five points.
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