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Brooklyn Nets: Player grades from a tough night in Detroit

By Phil Watson

Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Chris Schwegler/NBAE via Getty Images)
Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Chris Schwegler/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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Brooklyn Nets
Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Chris Schwegler/NBAE via Getty Images) /

The Brooklyn Nets opened the 2018-19 with a 103-100 loss to the Detroit Pistons on a night when they had too many turnovers and missed 3s to finish.

For fans of the Brooklyn Nets, Wednesday night’s season-opening loss to the Detroit Pistons was like a bad memory.

The Nets dropped a 103-100 decision to the Pistons, battling back from a 13-point deficit in the third quarter to take the lead twice in the late going, only to fall short under the weight of 19 turnovers, 18.5 percent shooting from 3-point range and 21 second-chance points allowed.

Despite all of that, the Nets had a chance to take the lead late — undone when Caris LeVert got the ball stripped away from him in the paint — and a chance to tie the game at the end — undone when Joe Harris‘ final 3-point attempt was wide right.

It didn’t help Brooklyn that five players began the season as inactives due to injuries.

DeMarre Carroll will be out indefinitely after surgery Tuesday on his right ankle, while Allen Crabbe, Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, Shabazz Napier and Alan Williams, on a two-way contract, are all still nursing more minor issues.

As for the 12 guys in uniform, Kenneth Faried, Dzanan Musa and the Nets’ other two-way player, Theo Pinson, were not called upon.

The absence of Faried was particularly pointed given the troubles Blake Griffin was giving the Nets at the defensive end.

Brooklyn did a lot of things well defensively, holding Detroit to 42.4 percent shooting, defending the 3-point line to the tune of allowing just 25 percent and forcing 17 turnovers with nine steals.

Down the stretch, the Nets forced Detroit into back-to-back shot-clock violations, but were not able to capitalize.

For their part, the Pistons were light on the wing, with starter Reggie Bullock out with the flu and Stanley Johnson down with a sore toe. That left second-year man Luke Kennard to start, while second-round pick Bruce Brown got the start at the 2.

Here are the marks for the first report card of the regular season: