Pistons Pull Away From Nets in NBA Cup Opener

The Detroit Pistons overcame an early deficit to defeat the Brooklyn Nets 110-94 at Barclays Center on October 30. Cade Cunningham led Detroit with 20 points, Duncan Robinson scored 17 and Ron Holland II added 16 off the bench. Brooklyn’s loss left it as the Eastern Conference’s last winless team, at 0-5.

Brooklyn led by as many as 10 in the second quarter, but Detroit closed the half with a strong run and went into the break ahead 56-49. The Pistons then outscored the Nets 37-17 in the third, with Holland scoring 12 consecutive points during the period. Detroit’s lead reached 30 in the fourth.

The Nets shot about 40% from the field and made 11 of 37 attempts from three-point range. Their turnovers proved costly: Brooklyn gave the ball away repeatedly in the second and third quarters as the Pistons built control of the game. Detroit also held a 27-11 advantage in fast-break points and outscored Brooklyn 48-36 in the paint.

Julius Randle scored 15 for the Nets, while Moritz Wagner added 16. The result also put Brooklyn in a difficult early position in its NBA Cup group, where point differential is the second tiebreaker after head-to-head results. Detroit visits Charlotte on Monday; Brooklyn visits Indiana on Sunday.