Pistons' Balanced Attack Dooms Nets on the Road

The Brooklyn Nets' midseason playoff push has come to a screeching halt. Following last night's 115-94 road loss at the hands of the Detroit Pistons — now back in the win column after their eight-game winning streak was snapped by the Denver Nuggets on Friday — the Nets sit three full games behind the Chicago Bulls for the Eastern Conference's 10 seed.

Tyrese Martin led the Nets with 23 points in as many minutes in Brooklyn's fourth-straight loss.

Tasked with defending one of the league's brightest young stars, Cade Cunningham, and the Pistons' emerging roster, the Nets got beat at their own game. The team enjoyed a February tear behind an often balanced but lethal scoring attack, however Brooklyn was quite top heavy Saturday night.

Outside of Martin — who had an extremely efficient night from the field — no other member of Jordi Fernandez's rotation eclipsed the 15-point mark. The Nets shot just 15.4% from beyond the arc and 30.5% overall, marking the second-straight contest where scoring was difficult to come by.

Much like Brooklyn's previous loss to the Portland Trail Blazers, the defensive effort was nearly just as poor as the offensive. Once lauded for their intense and gritty playstyle on both ends of the court, the Nets again surrendered an above-50% field goal percentage, while allowing six different Pistons to notch double digits in the scoring column.

Sans Cam Thomas, Trendon Watford, D'Angelo Russell and Noah Clowney, Brooklyn's lineup was thin to begin with. After back-to-back standout performances, Killian Hayes was tabbed as the lead facilitator in the final game of his 10-day contract, but came up well short of the prior showings.

The former seventh-overall selection from the 2020 NBA Draft tallied just four points and three assists, a stark contrast from his 16-point effort against Portland and 19-point output against the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Ahead of what could be his final game as part of the active roster, Fernandez expressed the gravity Hayes' performance would carry.

"The future right now is 48 minutes and that's the best thing for him. He's been part of the club now since the summer," he said via YES Network. "These 48 minutes are very important."

In an Eastern Conference tilt which the Nets only ever led by as much as two, there were some brightspots. Obviously Martin's showing was encouraging, especially since the marksman was signed for the remainder of the 2024-25 season just 10 days ago. Despite Detroit's red-hot shooting numbers, Brooklyn did force 27 turnovers, including 12 steals, while outrebounding the Pistons' stout frontcourt by eight on the offensive glass.

Amid an early-January-esque rough patch for the Nets, the franchise must decide where to turn next. It can continue pushing toward the postseason — attempting to reinsert the likes of Thomas, Clowney, Russell and Watford — with hopes of securing a playoff berth in year one under Fernandez, or it can prepare for the future. Continuing to get experience for Martin, Hayes, Wilson and others may be more beneficial in the long run, while possibly resulting in a better draft choice come this summer.

Now 21-39, Brooklyn will travel to San Antonio to take on the Spurs on Tuesday at 8:30 p.m. ET in an attempt to snap its four-game losing streak. Following that matchup, the Nets return home for another out-of-conference bout against Stephen Curry and the surging Golden State Warriors on Thursday at 6:30 p.m. EST.

To access the final box score from the Nets' loss to the Pistons, click here.