{"id":652353,"date":"2026-03-11T08:06:43","date_gmt":"2026-03-11T08:06:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/652353\/"},"modified":"2026-03-11T08:06:43","modified_gmt":"2026-03-11T08:06:43","slug":"nets-get-back-to-tanking-after-getting-blown-out-by-elite-pistons","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/652353\/","title":{"rendered":"Nets get back to tanking after getting blown out by elite Pistons"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"An<\/p>\n

An image collage containing 2 images, Image 1 shows Jalen Duren, who scored a game-high 26 points, slams home a dunk during the third quarter of the Nets’ 138-100 blowout loss over the Pistons at Barclays Center on March 10, 2026, Image 2 shows Michael Porter Jr., who scored a team-high 19 points, drives on Tolu Smith during the Nets’ blowout loss to the Pistons. <\/p>\n

After a brief two-game winning streak, the Nets returned to their tanking form.<\/p>\n

Brooklyn got bullied in its own home, routed 138-100 by the visiting Pistons before a sellout crowd of 17,548 at Barclays Center.<\/p>\n

The Nets had pulled off the fifth-biggest comeback in team history Saturday, rallying from 23 points down to win in Detroit.<\/p>\n

\"Jalen<\/p>\n

Jalen Duren, who scored a game-high 26 points, slams home a dunk during the third quarter of the Nets\u2019 138-100 blowout loss over the Pistons at Barclays Center on March 10, 2026. Getty Images<\/p>\n

Then they started a big, strong lineup in Monday\u2019s Pyrrhic victory over a shamelessly tanking Memphis team that fielded just eight players.<\/p>\n

Tuesday was the opposite end of the blowout spectrum.<\/p>\n

The Nets played without Egor D\u00ebmin, Day\u2019Ron Sharpe and Ziaire Williams. They played their starters limited minutes. And in the end, they got blown out.<\/p>\n

Brooklyn got outmuscled and outscored 64-24 in the point, outrun 26-5 in fast break points and trailed by as much as 43.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think defending the paint was a big problem for us,\u201d rookie Ben Saraf said. \u201cThey basically scored whenever they wanted in the paint, so our low man was not there. Transition, points of turnovers. So, yeah.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Nets were 0-of-14 from deep in the first half and dug a hole they couldn\u2019t climb out of.<\/p>\n

Starters Nic Claxton and Nolan Traore combined for just four points on 1-of-8 shooting. They coughed up 56.5 percent shooting and 16-of-32 from 3-point range, getting torn up defensively.<\/p>\n

Detroit star Cade Cunningham \u2014 who missed Saturday\u2019s Nets win \u2014 had 21 points and 15 assists to finish plus-37. Jalen Duren added a game-high 26.<\/p>\n

\"Michael<\/p>\n

Michael Porter Jr., who scored a team-high 19 points, drives on Tolu Smith during the Nets\u2019 blowout loss to the Pistons. AP<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had to protect our paint, and we had to take care of the ball,\u201d Jordi Fern\u00e1ndez said. \u201cAnd 29 points off turnovers to their seven; that\u2019s a 22-point difference. And then the paint 64 for them to our 24 to no 40 point difference. So it\u2019s hard. Hard to win.\u201d<\/p>\n

Impossible.<\/p>\n

The Nets fell to 17-48, and are fourth in the lottery standings, keeping pace a half-game behind third-place Washington.<\/p>\n

The Wizards took tanking to an entirely new level, letting Bam Adebayo light them up for 83 points. But the Nets at least helped themselves in the tanking race.<\/p>\n

Brooklyn temporarily iss 1 \u00b9\/\u2082 games behind Sacramento and two behind Indiana. The Kings beat the visiting Pacers Tuesday night.<\/p>\n

D\u00ebmin was out, shelved for the season with plantar fasciitis.<\/p>\n

Sharpe was out with a sprained left thumb, and Williams was sidelined with an illness. Fern\u00e1ndez offered no timeline for Sharpe to return.<\/p>\n

Michael Porter Jr. was back in the starting lineup after having been rested the night prior against the Grizzlies. He finished with a team-high 19 points.<\/p>\n

Saraf, who has been struggling mightily, added 10 points and six assists.<\/p>\n

Danny Wolf had 13 points and over the past couple of weeks is finally starting to find some consistency.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"An image collage containing 2 images, Image 1 shows Jalen Duren, who scored a game-high 26 points, slams…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":652354,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3773],"tags":[1179,7264,7,3519,22798,670,909,1042,296,188,3860,227,113,912,562,6,671,2728,114,297,4333,1015,30139,4610],"class_list":["post-652353","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-detroit-pistons","tag-bam-adebayo","tag-barclays-center","tag-basketball","tag-ben-saraf","tag-blowout-loss","tag-brooklyn","tag-cade-cunningham","tag-danny-wolf","tag-detroit","tag-detroit-pistons","tag-detroitpistons","tag-egor-demin","tag-indiana","tag-jalen-duren","tag-michael-porter-jr","tag-nba","tag-nets","tag-nic-claxton","tag-pacers","tag-pistons","tag-the-nets","tag-the-pistons","tag-tolu-smith","tag-ziaire-williams"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116209516449962386","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/652353","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=652353"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/652353\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/652354"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=652353"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=652353"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=652353"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}