NEW YORK -- The Brooklyn Nets (0-5) appeared to have understood the message when it came to what they had to do so that they could get their first win of the season and move on from there. Brooklyn's next test came against the visiting Detroit Pistons (5-1) on Friday in the NBA Cup, but the Nets let go of the rope well before the final buzzer sounded.
The Nets lost to the Pistons 110-94 despite ending the first quarter with a 28-21 lead as Detroit seemed to give their punch back in the second quarter and Brooklyn wasn't able to recover. Backup center Mo Wagner came off the bench to put up 16 points and eight rebounds while forward Julius Randle had 15 points and eight rebounds in what was a struggle of a performance for him.
Guard Cade Cunningham
led the way for the Pistons on the road with 20 points and five rebounds, but Brooklyn allowed five different Pistons players to score in double-digits. The Nets have not gotten off on the right floor overall and now, they are 0-1 in NBA Cup play despite having an encouraging performance earlier in the week against the Boston Celtics.
Mo Wagner Continues To Excel Off The Bench
Wagner had a slow start to the season as he couldn't find his rhythm shooting the ball from anywhere on the floor while also adjusting to a different scheme altogether in Brooklyn. However, Wagner has scored in double-figures in each of his last three games and has shot at least 62.5% from the field in each of those three appearances as he looks more comfortable on both ends of the floor.
Julius Randle's Shooting Struggles Persist
Compared to Wagner, Randle has gone the other way as he began the season on a heater as he put up at least 23 points and shot no worse than 53.8% from the floor in his first two games, but the last few games have been disappointing. Randle has now shot 30.8% or worse from the field in two of his last three games as it seems that opposing defense are forcing him to operate more often within a crowd.
Nets Lacking Team Chemistry
One of the main themes that came from head coach Jordi Fernandez and the players after this loss was connectivity and staying together in the face of adversity. The Nets have proven that they can come back from double-digit deficits so far this season, but it seems that the players are becoming more frustrated with those instances, especially since it takes more energy to get back in the game and even more energy to win the contest.
"We're in the stage of our group that when we hit adversity, it's how we react to it. I think we started well doing the right things, and then the other team responds, and you see dropping shoulders and not the same energy... We can control those things," Fernandez said during his postgame interview.
This article originally appeared on Nets Wire: 3 Nets takeaways from 110-94 NBA Cup loss to Cade Cunningham, Pistons
