3 Takeaways from Brooklyn Nets misfire vs Detroit Pistons
Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images
How many years behind the Pistons are the Nets? More than one, that’s for sure. For the first time in my entire young adulthood, the Detroit Pistons are exactly what the Brooklyn Nets want to be. With youth, talent, buy-in, and even a 4-0 record against Brooklyn’s rivals in the new year, they’re putting it all together here in big 2025.
The Nets, meanwhile, are still trying to decide what they want to build. It’s been a season of rummaging through the back of the garage to figure out what hardware is worth keeping — and what belongs in the scrapyard. It’s been as tiresome as a chore like that sounds too.
Last evening, it ironically took us to Motor City as well, with Brooklyn facing their example-to-follow in the shape of the Pistons. The Nets dropped the latter portion of their 11th back-to-back sequence of the year with four to go by a 115-94 score.
From a Brooklyn perspective, it probably didn’t provide enough entertainment value to warrant your attention on a Saturday night during one of the city’s warmer days in a while — but it also wasn’t entirely without substance. Here’s what we saw.
Day’Ron isn’t Going Away
Where were you for the Day’Ron Sharpe legacy game? Seeing as it was only a handful of days ago, hopefully you know. But going forward, there might be more than one to recall. When you look beyond point tallies, last night certainly argued that.
Putting up only four points after shooting 2-of-6 from the field, Sharpe’s performance in Detroit was by no means on par with his ripper vs Oklahoma City, but the things he did around the margins still made it seem like his game is more likely to grow rather than plateau in this last third of the season.
The kid we used see fly in late for rejection attempts at the expense of his rebounding positioning was surgical down low against the Pistons last night, pulling down five boards while still coming away with a rejection.
Day'Ron defending a lob by catching...damn he's come a long way pic.twitter.com/8SPc4UzCjP— Lucas Kaplan (@LucasKaplan_) March 2, 2025
At the other end, he dished a career-high six assists, not just flashing but spotlighting his court vision during all 20 of his minutes. Ben Simmons comparisons might not be welcome around here, but DHOs were something he always conducted with craftiness. Sharpe was no different last night...
Really intrigued by Day'Ron Sharpe as a facilitator. This fake DHO into a pass over the top of the defense was really good stuff. Sometimes bigs pile up assists just by getting off the ball. Sharpe has shown real skill in making reads and picking out cutters. Good stuff! pic.twitter.com/0gWRsoEYc1— Keith Smith (@KeithSmithNBA) March 2, 2025
The four-year big also nabbed a career-high four steals, at a few points turning them into offense as the Nets reeled in 24 points off Detroit’s 27 giveaways. More on that later...
Old Day’Ron still crashed the party at the end of the game, as Sharpe picked up four fouls in about four minutes before eventually fouling out. Nonetheless, his collective performance implied his Thunder game is something he’s building off of rather than flash in the pan.
Cam Can’t Make ‘Em All
The 2024-25 campaign has been a career one for Cam Johnson from a statistical and eye-test standpoint. His points, assists, blocks, triples made, free throw attempts, and minutes per game this year all currently clock in as career-high marks. His ability to put the ball on the deck and either score for himself or create for others has also raised eyebrows...
Cam Johnson starting to get going in his return (9 PTS). Bit of a delayed Gortat screen here from Claxton but it works nicely. pic.twitter.com/xoXRIa7tTc— Collin Helwig (@collinhelwig) February 6, 2025
But in any year to remember, you’ll still have nights to forget. Last evening was Cam’s. In front of the team everyone feared would give him a bag during his restricted free agency two summers ago, he shot 3-of-20 from the field and 0-of-10 from deep. Tacking on four turnovers as well, it was equally ugly as it was outside of the norm for him.
Brooklyn got CJ all the looks he normally drains — but the shots he put up last night were essentially bacon grease. His first misfire came after on an all-too-familiar double stagger that freed him at the top of the key, yet he found the front iron rather than nylon. Not long after, he fumbled the rock while going up for a jam after the defense gave him an unabated run at the rim.
From that point forward, it was just clear Saturday would not be his night. But as I discussed beforehand, in a season where you take several massive steps forward, it’s natural to tip-toe back one or two inches during that process. That’s development: a few steps forward, one back. In all honesty, it was smart of Johnson to take his while tucked away in Detroit and on a night most people were probably out.
It Still Starts with the Defense
Brooklyn’s offense has been a hot topic of discussion lately with their Rocky Balboa performance vs Oklahoma City and Cam Thomas’ reinsertion to the lineup. But make mistake about it, it’s the other side of the ball where the true hoop enjoyers will get their fix watching this team.
After the Pistons baked them 21-5 to begin the game, last night’s contest didn’t exactly ooze with competitive spirit, much like the Portland bout. The closest thing we got to a game was when the Nets went on a 12-2 run that shrunk the deficit to six.
As all struggling offensive teams do, the Nets got their points there by turning defense into offense. Brooklyn picked away seven of their 27 forced turnovers in the third. They converted those into nine fast break points in that period alone after generating just six for the entire first half.
I did not think the Nets had a run in them.It's down to 6. Playing fantastic defense: pic.twitter.com/MTBRsnnLWL— Lucas Kaplan (@LucasKaplan_) March 2, 2025
There’s not a whole lot to celebrate about the Nets right now, but their work at the game’s less glamorous end remains worthy of applause. It didn’t translate into a win last night, but frankly, those are at a premium for this team this year. However, it was a reminder that for Brooklyn, “identity” actually starts with the letter D.
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