The worst team in the East upended the best.
The Nets interrupted their free-fall with a stunning come-from-behind 107-105 victory at conference-leading Detroit before a sellout crowd of 20,062 at Little Caesars Arena.
The comeback — from 23 points down to tie the fifth-biggest in franchise history — snapped what had been a league-worst 10-game losing skid.
“Man it was just it’s all about keep fighting,” Ziaire Williams said on YES Network. “Coach told us at halftime, just keep working. We’re down by 15. It’s not a lot. It’s easy; play one by one. Just keep chipping out on it. So, yeah, we just had a lot of juice, shots went in, got some stops and glad we got the win.
“This is big, This proves when we’re all connected we’re capable of beating any team.”
A big night by Michael Porter Jr. (game-high 30 points, 13 rebounds) and strong second halves from Williams and Day’Ron Sharpe saw Brooklyn erase an eight-point deficit with 3:25 left.
Down 103-95, the Nets reeled off a dozen unanswered points to go up by four with less than a minute to play.
There were a few nervy moments, Williams (23 points) forcing a Daniss Jenkins miss, and Sharpe (13 points, seven boards) fighting for the rebound.
But even after Noah Clowney committed an unforced turnover with just seven seconds left to give Detroit life, Williams forced a Duncan Robinson miss and Jalen Duren’s last-second miss sealed it.
The Nets didn’t have to face Pistons star guard Cade Cunningham or forward Ausar Thompson (right ankle).
They won’t care.
“They’re a very good team, very well-coached, really tough,” Jordi Fernandez said pregame. “It’s good to play against a team like this because it tests you and we’re coming here with the understanding of who we have in front of us, and we have to have that mindset for 48 minutes.
“For them, it’s next man up. That’s the identity of the team. Obviously, Cade is a very special player, but we’ll still have to deal with a lot of physicality, a lot of size, and that’s what we have to be ready for.”
Nic Claxton got thoroughly outplayed by Duren, who had 17 points and 14 rebounds.
But his backup came off the bench and helped lead the Nets back.
Claxton’s only basket knotted the game at 13-all midway through the first quarter, but Brooklyn coughed up a 24-8 run that spanned into the second quarter.
They trailed 37-21 after Jenkins’ bucket 52 seconds into the quarter, and the deficit swelled to as much as 23 in the third.
But Porter helped lead a comeback.
“He’s offensively gifted. His ability to make tough shots — I don’t know if there’s a guy in our league that makes tougher shots than he does consistently,” Detroit coach JB Bickerstaff said. “So, he brings a different dynamic to [the Nets] offensively.”
Brooklyn did try to claw back into it with a 15-3 run.
Porter pulled them within 80-69 with 2:18 left in the third.
Porter banked in a 3-pointer by Porter, and Sharpe’s three offensive rebounds and putbacks got the Nets within four.
Williams’ 3-pointer pulled them within one, and he drilled another on a Danny Wolf offensive rebound put Brooklyn up 105-103.
When Porter calmly sank a pair from the charity stripe to cap a 12-0 run, and put the Nets up 107-103 with :53.7 to play.
But despite Clowney dribbling the ball out of bounds.
They forced a Robinson miss from the corner and Duren to miss a jumper, and held on from there.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: nypost.com
