Three Takeaways From the Nets' Blowout Loss to the Pistons

The Brooklyn Nets (13-35) capped off their road trip with a matchup against the Eastern Conference-leading Detroit Pistons (36-12) on Sunday.

Brooklyn was coming off a much-needed victory over the Jazz on Friday, which ended a seven-game losing streak. However, for the second game in a row, they would be without Michael Porter Jr., who missed the game due to personal reasons. And his absence showed in a big way, as the Nets got blown out 130-77.

Here are the biggest takeaways from the Nets disappointing loss to the Pistons.

1. Nets Start Slow... Again

The slow starts are still a huge issue for Jordi Fernandez's squad, and they reared their ugly head again on Sunday. Brooklyn found themselves down by 23 at halftime as a result of too many turnovers, poor defense, and bad three-point shooting. They also gave up 36 points in the paint in the first half, which is entirely too many to give up if you want to win in the NBA.

These slow starts are beginning to become the norm for the Nets, which is unfortunate given that they always seem to have a run at some point in the second half. If they could start games better and get into halftime not trailing by double-digits, they might have a few more wins under their belts.

2. Rookies Stuggle Immensely

All five of the Nets' 2025 first-round picks saw action on Sunday, and it didn't go great. Egor Demin, Nolan Traore, Danny Wolf, Drake Powell, and Ben Saraf combined for 30 points on 7-32 shooting from the field. They had more turnovers (9) than made baskets in this game.

While it wasn't all negative, as Saraf showed off some decent signs early on, this was a bad game for that group of guys. They ran into an absolute buzzsaw of a Pistons team, and looked like rookies for most of the night. This is a good group of rookies who will be fine in the long run, but this game was a stark reminder of just how far they have to go.

3. The Nets Aren't Close

This was a good test for the Nets, taking on the best team in the Eastern Conference and one of the best teams that the NBA has to offer. Even without Porter Jr., this game gave Brooklyn the opportunity to show that maybe they weren't as far away as many fans thought they were. They only reaffirmed those concerns massively.

This was a poor performance from everyone involved, as the Nets got run out of the building by Detroit. It looked like a G-League team had taken the court to face the Pistons. This was an embarrassing loss for Brooklyn and showed just how far the gap is between them and the top of the East. Sean Marks and company have a lot of work to do this offseason.