After a poor start against the Detroit Pistons on Saturday night, Kevin Ollie's team appeared to be on track for its 48th loss of the season.
The Nets trailed the league-worst Pistons by as many as 19 points, but a 19-0 run in the final five minutes gave Brooklyn a 113-103 victory.
Guard Dennis Schroder scored nine of the final 19 points, 12 in the final period, and center Nick Claxton had two key blocks in the final moments to keep the Pistons at bay. His second block of the sequence, Detroit's Troy Brown and his junior floater, was rejected, necessitating an official review. The block was initially considered goaltending, but after review, officials reversed the ruling.
On the next possession, Schroder assisted on Jalen Wilson's 3-pointer with 40.1 seconds left to put his team up by eight points. The dagger virtually ensured Brooklyn's second straight victory.
The Nets entered the game trailing by 10.5 points, trailing by double digits for most of the game and trailing by nine points in the final period. A loss would be another embarrassing blow to a lost season. To make matters worse, Monty Williams' team entered the second game of the series without two of its best players.
Young star Cade Cunningham missed Saturday's game with a knee injury, and up-and-coming center Jalen Duren was sidelined with an ankle injury. Former Knicks guards Quentin Grimes and Evan Fournier also did not play due to injuries.
Cam Thomas continued to play consistently, leading the team with 32 points, 5 assists, and 6 rebounds. His performance was good enough to negate 12 turnovers in the first half, one less than Brooklyn's average per game. Turnovers gave the road team an early lead of as many as 15 points, leading by 11 at halftime.
The Nets ended up with 18 turnovers, eight more than their opponents. Each of Detroit's starters (except James Wiseman) scored at least 15 points, resulting in 26 points off turnovers.
Detroit's Chimezie Metu was a perfect 9-for-9 from the field, scoring 20 points and grabbing 7 rebounds. Marcus Sasser, who started in place of the injured Cunningham, contributed 18 points, a significant jump from his average of 7.5 points on Saturday.
Guard Jordan Ivey contributed 16 points, 10 assists and four rebounds.
The Nets were without sharpshooters Cam Johnson (toe) and Dennis Smith Jr. (hip) and barely managed to get their 31st win of the season. The injury allowed Noah Clowney to enjoy the extra time and he impressed. Clowney knocked down four shots while converting six of seven attempts (17 points) from the field. He also grabbed six rebounds.
Schroder had 24 points and six assists, Mikal Bridges had 13 points and Wilson had 10 points off the bench. Dorian Finney-Smith missed all three of Downtown's shots and scored two points, but also grabbed seven rebounds.
