There were excuses everywhere, the largest a 7-footer on the bench in street clothes.
Kevin Durant is hurt. Ben Simmons’ knee kept him out for much of the second half. T.J. Warren banged his own knee and exited in the fourth with a contusion. Seth Curry sat out with a bum knee on a back-to-back. The Nets were exhausted and limped home after a draining loss in Philadelphia the night prior and on the heels of a five-game road trip.
However they could try to justify it, the Nets were outplayed by a team that holds the Eastern Conference’s worst record and could have bigger problems than the game’s outcome.
The well-rested and young Pistons outhustled and outlasted the Nets, 130-122, in front of 17,732 at Barclays Center on Thursday, when the Nets dropped their sixth game of eight without Durant. They will hope they did not lose Simmons for extended time, too.
The Nets (29-19) reached deep into their reserves — both metaphorical and literal, dusting off out-of-rotation Patty Mills and Cam Thomas — and cut a 14-point, fourth-quarter deficit to five with a minute left, but they found no more gas (or much scoring behind Kyrie Irving and Nic Claxton).
“The expectations, what we always talk about, was to win this basketball game,” said head coach Jacque Vaughn, who offered no excuse. “The people who suited up, the people who played, the people who stepped on the floor had an opportunity to impact that basketball game for their teammates.”
The next question will become who can step on the floor Saturday in Brooklyn against the Knicks. Vaughn was not sure whether Simmons or Warren would require an MRI exam.
Simmons was pulled with 6:40 to go in the third quarter and did not return due to left knee soreness — the same knee that has kept Simmons out for a few pockets of the season, including five of six games in late November and early December.
Without the struggling Simmons, the Nets disappeared in the third quarter against a Detroit squad (13-37) that had dropped four straight.
The Pistons seized control in the third, scoring the first five points of the quarter on their way to opening an 11-point edge. The Pistons, behind young players such as Saddiq Bey (25 points) and Jaden Ivey (16 points and eight assists), got wherever they wanted against a Nets defense that sprouted holes.
The Pistons had not played since Monday and it showed, winning plenty of loose-ball battles in the second half. The Nets’ legs grew heavier as the game got longer, and they also had fewer legs to turn to.
“That’s the easy excuse. We all play in the NBA, we know this grind,” said Edmond Sumner, who had 24 points for the Nets. “We could have brought it more. We had a chance, we just didn’t bring it. … We’re not that tired. We can get those 50-50 balls.”
Irving led the Nets with 40 often spectacular points, draining six 3-pointers, finishing with either hand while suspended in air and often finding Claxton (a career-high 27 points) around the basket. Irving, who was named an All-Star starter shortly before tipoff, is the fourth player in the Nets’ NBA history to register 30-plus points in five straight games, joining Durant, Stephon Marbury and John Williamson.
But beyond Sumner, the Nets could not find other scorers and could not stop the Pistons, who shot 50.5 percent from the field and put eight scorers in double digits.
“We just got to figure out how to slide our puppies a little bit better and stay in front of people and stop fouling so often,” Irving said.
Simmons, whose inability to be aggressive offensively had taken the spotlight since Durant’s injury, was held scoreless, shooting 0-for-3, prior to the injury during a game in which he could not find his game. He opened the contest by airballing a hook, and on the ensuing possession, drove and tried to connect with Claxton, a poor pass that became a turnover.
When Durant was healthy, Simmons was asked to be the Nets’ Draymond Green: a versatile, excellent defender with great court vision and no jump shot. Simmons embraced the role but had been unable to accept a larger one.
The more Simmons struggles, the more questions will surface about his mental health, which, along with a back issue, kept him off the court last season.
The questions now will concern his knee, too.
