In their final home game of the season, the Detroit Pistons couldn’t keep pace with a Brooklyn Nets team competing for playoff position.
The Nets started and ended the game the same way — hot — and left Little Caesars Arena with a 123-108 win. Brooklyn ended the first quarter with a 29-9 run to take a double-digit lead, and closed the game with a 25-14 run.
It was Detroit’s 11th straight loss, and its 22nd in 23 games.
Most of the game was a shootout, and the Nets simply had more firepower against a Pistons team with eight players on the injury report. A ninth — Eugene Omoruyi — exited with a left ankle sprain in the second quarter.
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It was a big night for R.J. Hampton, who scored a career-high 27 points for the Pistons, including 22 in the second half to help Detroit get within four points early in the fourth quarter before Brooklyn pulled away. He shot 9-for-15 and hit five 3-pointers. Jaden Ivey had a double-double with 23 points and 10 assists, and Jalen Duren added 18 points and eight rebounds.
Mikal Bridges led Brooklyn with 26 points, and Nicolas Claxton added 19.
Hampton leads Pistons’ rally
Brooklyn took a 19-point lead with 10:19 to play in the third quarter, courtesy of an alley-oop dunk by Claxton. It could’ve been an early dagger, as the Pistons were outmanned and, at this point in the season, have little to play for.
But Hampton had something to say about it. He sparked a 31-18 Pistons run that cut the margin to six — 96-90 — at the end of the period by scoring 18 points in the quarter. His third-period outburst included four 3-pointers, including back-to-back 3s in the final two minutes that brought the crowd to its feet.
Hampton’s previous career-high was 21. Entering Wednesday, he was shooting 39.2% overall and 34.6% from 3 in 18 games since signing with the Pistons in late February. It was an unexpected — but needed — moment for the 2020 first-round pick (No. 24 to Milwaukee). With two games remaining for Detroit, he’ll have two more opportunities to display the upside that once made him a potential top-five pick.
Nets scorch Pistons early with hot first quarter
The Pistons opened the game strong on offense, shooting 60.9% in the first quarter. It wasn’t nearly enough, because the Nets put up video game-type numbers.
Brooklyn hit 10 3-pointers, on 18 tries, in the opening period. It was the second-most 3-pointers by an NBA team in a first quarter this season, trailing only the Sacramento Kings’ 12 against the Memphis Grizzlies on Jan. 23. Wednesday night, Joe Harris was responsible for six of them, for all 18 of his points as Brooklyn led the Pistons by 13 entering the second.
Former Pistons second-round pick Spencer Dinwiddie dished out 10 of his 16 assists in the first quarter, the most assists in a quarter this season, according to StatMuse.
Pistons thankful for fan support in tough season
Despite winning a franchise-low nine home games in 41 tries this season, the Pistons have drawn well. Entering Wednesday, they were 12th in the league at 18,535 fans per game.
“The fans have been great, and we couldn’t ask for any more from our fans as far as their attendance,” coach Dwane Casey said before the game. “They’re coming and cheering the team on. We want success just like everyone else. It hasn’t come as quickly. This year hasn’t been about wins and losses, it’s more about developing because it’s very difficult to do both, but the fans have been with us every step of the way.
“When this team turns the corner, everybody is going to look at these tough days,” he continued. They’re going to forget about them pretty quick once it does, but they’ll look back and say, ‘Hey, it was worth it.’ You have to go through it. It was something our organization had to go through.”