DETROIT — The Nets lost to the team everybody beats.
Dig an early hole. Don’t guard your yard. And get outworked on second-chance points.
It was a textbook trap game, and the Nets fell right in with a 118-112 loss to the woebegone Pistons before 19,011 at Little Caesars Arena on Thursday night.
The Nets (25-38) allowed the first 11 points of the game, falling behind by 18 in the first quarter.
“We can’t keep getting down by 18. This is the second game in a row. We had an opportunity to come back the last game … but we can’t keep living in that world,” interim coach Kevin Ollie said.
The Nets’ defensive failings cost them.
Brooklyn had to work all night to pull even 98-all midway through the fourth quarter, only to run out of gas and concede a 9-0 run to the Pistons immediately thereafter.
The Nets were outscored 23-9 in second-chance points, the difference in the game.
That was as much about their inability to stay in front of guards Jaden Ivey (game-high 34 points) and Cade Cunningham (32 points, 11 assists). The pair got into the paint at will, and drew help that caused havoc all evening.
“Yeah, if you’re getting two feet in the paint every time around, we’ve got to help,” Ollie said.
“Yeah, that’s tough. We just got to come out better on both ends,” said Mikal Bridges. “We have to do a better job of boxing out. Personally, boxing out, not ball watching.”
Dennis Schroder had 31 points and eight assists, while Lonnie Walker IV shook off an illness to add 21 off the bench.
But leading scorer Bridges continued his recent struggles with just 13, while Brooklyn allowed 52.4 percent shooting.
It was the worst possible start to a season-long six-game road trip, falling to the Pistons (10-52).
The Nets stumbled right out of the gate, 0-for-6 with a couple of turnovers by the time Walker finally scored.
The deficit swelled to 26-8 on a floater by former Knicks benchwarmer Evan Fournier.
The Nets did respond with the next 10 points unanswered to get within 26-18 on a driving layup by Schroder.
They kept the momentum up, going ahead before the half and leading 75-71 on Bridges’ layup off a Schroder feed.
But they conceded 12 unanswered points. James Wiseman capped the run at the line, leaving Brooklyn down 83-75 with a minute remaining in the period. The Nets never led again.
The Nets pulled into a 98-all tie with 6:32 left on Trendon Watford’s free throws, but couldn’t get over the hump.
They allowed nine straight Pistons points to essentially put it away.
Trailing 116-112 in the waning seconds, Schroder’s missed floater iced it.
“We can’t put [ourselves] behind the eight ball like that,” Dorian Finney-Smith said. “As a group, we’ve gotta find ways to help each other, [Nic Claxton] doing his job of protecting the rim, and we’ve got to help him. As a team, we’ve got to just do our job at a higher standard.”
