October 31, 2026 at 4:54 AM UTC

Postgame Report

Pistons pull away from winless Nets, 110-94, in Cup opener

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Brooklyn led after one quarter, then watched Detroit outscore it 71-38 over the middle two and fell to 0-5.

The Nets are still looking for their first win. They went 0-5 on Friday night with a 110-94 loss to the Pistons at Barclays Center, and for three quarters it was never in doubt that the drought would go on. Cade Cunningham led Detroit with 20 points, and Ronald Holland II added 18 in 22 minutes off the bench. Duncan Robinson hit for 17.

The game doubled as the NBA Cup group play opener for both teams in East Group A, which gave the night a little more weight than an ordinary early-November-adjacent date. Brooklyn did not play like a team that felt it. After a bright first quarter, the Nets let the game get away in the middle of the night.

That first quarter was the best of it. Brooklyn led 28-21, a few days after a 125-124 overtime loss at Boston on Tuesday that was the closest it has come to a win this season. Moritz Wagner finished with 16 points and eight rebounds, and Julius Randle had 15 and eight, but the Nets scored only 21 in the second quarter and 17 in the third. Detroit went for 35 and 36 in those same stretches and was up 92-66 going to the fourth.

The Pistons arrived off a 97-89 win over Charlotte and had the look of a team that knew what it was doing. They were a clear favorite, laying 7.5 points, and they have now won six of the last seven against Brooklyn. Ausar Thompson filled the gaps with 11 points, eight rebounds and six assists, and Paul Reed gave Detroit 12 points in a team-high 31 minutes. Brooklyn won the last quarter 28-18, which only made the final margin a little less lopsided.

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