Pistons unleash offensive barrage, fueled by Cunningham's playmaking and Duren's dominance, to rout Nets after Saturday's stunner.
The Brooklyn Nets were unable to come away with back-to-back victories over the Eastern Conference's No. 1 seeded Detroit Pistons on Tuesday night, falling in brutal fashion 138-100 after a historic 23-point comeback win on Saturday night.
On a night when the Nets were held without a made three-point shot through the first two quarters of play, Detroit's three-point shooters caught fire. The Pistons finished shooting 16-for-32 from deep, with MVP candidate Cade Cunningham, Marcus Sasser and Duncan Robinson combining to his 11 of their 13 tries.
Cunningham destroyed the Nets with his probing play-style and dissection of the defense as a facilitator, ending with 21 points and 15 assists paired with a +37 plus-minus in just under 26 minutes of action.
For Brooklyn's side, Michael Porter Jr. scored the first 9 Nets points before running into a wall for the rest of the night, and that wall was named Jalen Duren.
The Pistons' first-time All-Star and dominant two-way center finished a few highlight-reel feeds from Cunningham on his way to pouring in 26 points on 9-for-10 from the field. He'd also how off his defensive chops with 2 steals and 2 blocks.
Porter Jr. ended his night with 19 points, 3 turnovers, 4 fouls and -31 in the plus-minus department, only outdone by rookie Drake Powell's -32.
Despite not hitting a shot from outside in the first half, Brooklyn finished 13-for-38 from deep (34.2%) and got a look at a few under-the-radar talents from a shooting perspective. Two-way signee Tyson Etienne hit 2-of-3 from distance to end with 7 points and 3 assists to bring the team percentage up a notch.
Duren made it a tough night for the Nets' most prominent paint penetrators, including rookie floor general Nolan Traoré who arguably played his least effective game at the NBA level.
Detroit's vaunted No. 2 ranked defense (108.9 defensive rating) as a whole gave Traoré and the Nets' offensive initiators fits all night long, but Traoré proved most ineffective when attempting to attack Duren and defensive-minded big man Isaiah Stewart (4 points, 8 rebounds, 1 block).
The rookie point guard shot just 1-for-6 from the field for 2 points, 2 assists and 2 turnovers in just under 16 minutes.
One of the only silver linings for the Nets came at the free throw line, as the team enjoyed another uncharacteristically great 29-for-34 (85.3%) night from the charity stripe. Rookie Danny Wolf led the way shooting 7-for-9 on his attempts to finish with 13 points and 8 rebounds of his own.
Brooklyn fell to 17-48 on the year and had their 2-game winning streak snapped, but another chance will come for the team to regroup on Thursday night against the Atlanta Hawks.
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