Nets hope to hand Pistons historic loss

Detroit looks to snap 26-game losing streak vs. Brooklyn

December 26, 2023 John Torenli, Sports Editor Brooklyn Daily Eagle

It's on to Detroit for Dorian Finney-Smith and the Nets after they beat the Pistons at Downtown's Barclays Center on Saturday night. AP Photo by Noah K. Murray

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The Brooklyn Nets don’t want to be the team that helps the Detroit Pistons end the longest single-season losing streak in NBA history.

Even if they feel a touch of sympathy for the league’s worst team.

“I told them, some of the young guys on (their) team after the game, that sometimes you got to lose before you can win,” Nets forward Cam Johnson revealed after Brooklyn handed Detroit its record-tying 26th consecutive defeat Saturday night in Downtown Brooklyn.

Mikal Bridges scored 29 points, Cam Thomas had 20 and Johnson finished with 18 for the Nets, who ran away with a 126-115 triumph over the struggling Pistons in front of a sellout crowd of 17,732 at Barclays Center.

As this home-and-home series moves to the Motor City on Tuesday night, Detroit (2-27) is on the brink of owning the record for futility all by itself.

Only the 2011-12 Cleveland Cavaliers and 2013-14 Philadelphia 76ers had lost as many straight games in a single campaign. The Sixers dropped 28 in a row spanning two seasons from 2014 to 2016.

“We had a lot of tough breaks this year, but I try not to look at life that way. It just happens,” said first-year Detroit coach Monty Williams, who coached both Johnson and Bridges in Phoenix.

Not to be lost in all the misery for the Pistons was the Nets’ first win following a season-high five-game slide.

Brooklyn had dropped the final three contests on its five-game West Coast swing before returning here and losing back-to-back games to the New York Knicks and defending NBA champion Denver Nuggets.

Now, the Nets want to avoid becoming the first team Detroit has defeated since it improved to 2-1 with a 118-102 triumph over visiting Chicago at Little Caesars Arena on Oct. 28.

“We (were) trying to get off this losing streak as well, so ain’t no pressure. We just want to win,” Brooklyn’s Dorian Finney-Smith said after logging a team-best plus-22 rating in Saturday’s slump-busting victory.

Former Net Bojan Bogdonavic (left) and his Pistons teammates hope to avoid the longest single-season losing streak in NBA history. AP Photo by Noah K. Murray

Jaden Ivey scored 23 points and backcourt mate Cade Cunningham added 22 for the Pistons, who will be desperate to end their two-month drought Tuesday.

“Everybody wants to win, everybody hates losing, so it’s hard,” Cunningham ceded.

“We’ve got to be realistic as well. Can’t just keep saying the same things over and over, like we’ll get the next one. There has to be like a plan of action, so we’re just trying to figure that out.”

So are the Nets (14-15), who are trying to climb back to .500 and win back-to-back games for the first time since a three-game run to open the month.

Even if it is against a team they have to feel for as fellow competitors and athletes.

“Sometimes you got to fall before you crawl, walk before you can run,” Johnson said of the Pistons.

Brooklyn can ill-afford to feel too sorry for Detroit, however.

Or it will find itself on a 2-7 slide of its own with Eastern Conference powerhouse Milwaukee coming to Barclays on Wednesday night.

Reserve guard Dennis Smith Jr. throws down a thunderous dunk during Brooklyn’s victory over Detroit Saturday. AP Photo by Noah K. Murray

NOTHING BUT NET: The Nets got reserve Dennis Smith Jr., back on the floor the past two games after he missed two weeks with a lower-back strain. The 26-year-old guard had six points and three assists in 19 minutes off the bench in the opener vs. Detroit. He had seven points, five assists and four rebounds against Denver here on Friday. “So it’s definitely a piece that we were missing when [Smith] was gone,” Nets coach Jacque Vaughn noted. “There’s a physicality that he plays with. There’s an edge that he plays with, that he gives to the rest of the group.” … Former Net Joe Harris made his return to Brooklyn Saturday, but he finished scoreless in seven minutes after receiving a video tribute and heartfelt response from the Barclays faithful. “[Brooklyn] means everything,” Harris told the New York Post after spending seven seasons with the Nets before being traded to Detroit this past offseason. “This is literally where I developed into an NBA player — here. If it wasn’t for my stop in Brooklyn, I’m not sure I’d be in a similar spot. You like to think that you would, but there’s a lot of dots that gotta be connected.”