3 Takeaways from Brooklyn Nets shorthanded loss to Detroit Pistons

The Nets keep falling; the Pistons keep rising. Is there hope in that? In how things can change and change again?

The Brooklyn Nets were tagged as underdogs heading into this season, during their upset run vs the West a few weeks into it, and especially after they kicked down doors as sellers a few weeks ago.

This week, however, they’ve embodied that character more than ever.

All it took was one look at the bench last night to understand that. It wasn’t filled with smaller or lesser known NBA players. It wasn’t filled at all actually. A trio of players sat alone. Other than second year player Jalen Wilson the two guys cheering for the guys on the court weren’t even on the team this time a month ago. Reece Beekman and Tosan Evbuomwan, thanks for coming in yesterday, seriously.

Getting bitten by the voracious injury bug while also being dragged down by the rough leash that comes with a rebuilding season isn’t a fun place. The Nets endured that last night, understandably lacking the pep to hang with the upstart Detroit Pistons, who galloped to a 113-98 victory. Here’s how we got there.

Green Light Clowney is Fun…At the Very Least

Box score watchers surely looked at the stats from last night and concluded that this throttling wasn’t without a silver lining, zeroing in on Noah Clowney’s 29-point game.

Indeed, it was a career night for Clowney from a scoring perspective, but not something I’d call career-game. Don’t get it twisted — both of those things get a thumbs up, especially after you take an elbow to your neck. But as all the Cam Thomas non-believers will admonish you, there’s more to this game than points.

While the Alabama product shot a more-than apt 5-of-11 from downtown, he finished 9-of-20 for the game, missing a fair amount of looks around the cylinder. He went 4-of-9 inside the paint, a few ticks down from his season average at 46.8%.

Nonetheless, Clowney’s willingness to probe inside represented another step in the right direction considering his 3-point heavy shot profile thus far in his short career. For a second straight game, Clowney leveraged his shooting prowess and the aggressive closeouts he drawing to his advantage.

That, combined with his aforementioned five made triples made him an intriguing watch in a burn-the-tape game. Oftentimes, you know exactly what Noah Clowney is going to do when the ball comes his way (shoot a three), but last night, it was like shaking up a magic eight ball. Expect more of that as long as most of the Nets remain in street clothes.

Tosan is Serviceable

The competition for Brooklyn’s best reserve wasn’t too strong last night, but newest Net Tosan Evbuomwan would have had a solid case even if the usuals joined him on the bench.

The new two-way finished with 13 points while going an efficient 4-of-7 from the field. He knocked down all five of his shots from the stripe. He also pulled down seven boards, dished an assist, and picked away a steal…

Evbuomwan hit a few looks queued up by others as a well as a few created by himself — a key attribute every glue guy needs. He leveraged his size with some solid footwork to both fortify himself on the defensive end and position himself for boards, made evident by his touchdown in that stat category.

Like many of Brooklyn’s deep bench guys right now, it’s unlikely Evbuomwan is there when the Nets plan to contend two or three (hopefully not more than that!) years from now. But if not in Brooklyn and if not in the distant future, he flashed the tools to serve as a solid NBA contributor at some point in his career.

Tyrese Martin Checks the Brooklyn Grit Box

All the guys, including Jordi Fernández, deserve a nod for gutting out that game last night just one player removed from having to forfeit. Tyrese Martin, however, gets a second one.

Without any other ball-handlers other than newly acquired two-way Reece Beekman and Keon Johnson (again), Martin shouldered much of the offensive creation duties, coming away with four assists to go with his 12 points. Those dimes tied a career-high mark for him in a game. Martin gave up the rock four times as well, but again, we’re talking effort here.

That willingness to play beyond what his usual role asks also took Martin into the paint, where he came away with a career-high 10 rebounds, also notching his first career double-double.

Martin delivered on what Fernández normals asks of him as well, going 4-9 from downtown. He was responsible for nearly a third of Brooklyn’s made triples last night, sinking a few even on self-created looks or those with a defender closing in on him.

Martin already feels like a lock for one of those Nets legends you’ll mention in the “name a random NBA player” exercise with your pals thanks to his flamethrower night vs the exiled Kevin Durant earlier this year. Last night’s game won’t be remembered by as many Brooklyn fans, probably for the better, but it was another contest where Martin illustrated the grit we love on this side of the river.