The Brooklyn Nets were outmatched by the Detroit Pistons; Allen Crabbe scores 20 points for the Nets in the loss against the Detroit Pistons

The Brooklyn Nets played the Detroit Pistons at the Barclays Center last night, and honestly, it’s been a long time since I witnessed a lopsided performance during an NBA game. It was as if I was watching an NBA team playing a mid-range team on the college level. Yes, it was that bad.

Midway through the fourth quarter, when it was crystal clear that the Nets were not going to pull a rabbit out of a hat and close in on the Pistons, fans started booing. I tend to think booing is disrespectful, but it was hard not to empathize with the fans because NBA ticket prices are not cheap particularly as you get close to the floor.

The Nets appeared to be managing well during the first quarter; Brooklyn was behind, but the Detroit only led by eight points 34-26. Fast forward to the start of the fourth, Detroit led 90-61, a differential of 29 points.

At the end, it was Pistons 114, the Nets 80. Yes, the Detroit Pistons took the Brooklyn Nets to the proverbial woodshed.

“Just give them a lot of credit…,” Nets head coach Kenny Atkinson told the media after the game. “I thought they dominated us. We got off to a decent start and then they dominated us the rest of the way in every phase of the game and there’s really not a lot to say much more than that. One aspect of the game, obviously we couldn’t stop them, that was first case. We’re missing a lot of shots and running back. When you’re missing all the time and you’re running back it puts a lot of pressure on your defense. I’ve got to give credit to them, they dominated us.”

As my mother used to say, “You got that right.”

But, she also said, there are at least two sides to every coin and, there is a reason for everything. Atkinson looking for reasons for how this Nets team, could perform so poorly, particularly when lately even in losses they have been taking teams to the buzzer.

Did the team hit a wall because of the multiple close games?

“I think that could be a logical way of looking at things,” Atkinson responded. “There’s physical part of it and there’s a mental focus and we let the mental part down too. Tonight, it wasn’t just the physical part of it. You know when you’re competing against high-level teams like we did the last two teams here, here’s a very good NBA team, playoff team, and we just didn’t have that level of focus or that level of physical readiness for whatever reason. We’ll analyze it a little more. But listen, I’ve been very pleased with the way the guys have been playing, the way they’ve been competing. Tonight we fell off a cliff a little bit. I always look at this league, especially when you’re playing decently, it’s really the other team that causes a loss like this and they played a great game.”

Yes, indeed, in addition to the overall score, the Pistons out-rebounded the Nets 54-35.

Nets point guard Spencer Dinwiddie, who has been a scoring machine as of late, fell off a steep cliff. Last night, Dinwiddie only scored two points for the Nets and on Monday against the Toronto Raptors, Dinwiddie scored a career-high 31 points. He also posted five rebounds and eight assists with only one turnover. He also had two steals.

And, Dinwiddie, who obviously thinks like a true champion, is not dwelling on last night’s loss against the Pistons.

“Just kind of gotta flush it, really,” Dinwiddie said after the game.