The Detroit Pistons hosted the Brooklyn Nets on Sunday night and there wasn't much of an expectation that things would be particularly competitive. Detroit sits comfortably atop the Eastern Conference and Brooklyn is already crossing its fingers that ping-pong balls favor it in the lottery. But no one, and we mean absolutely no one, expects an NBA game to end with a 53-point gulf, which is what the Pistons built en route to a 130-77 blowout victory.
Jalen Duren celebrated being named as an All-Star reserve by scoring 21 points and grabbing 10 rebounds while Cade Cunningham scored 18 and dished out 12 assists. There were no signs of slowing down for 48 minutes as Detroit entered the fourth quarter with an already enormous 100-62 edge and proceeded to make things worse from there.
The 53-point margin is the largest in Detroit's long franchise history, besting a 52-point win against the Boston Celtics back in 2003. Brooklyn has actually lost more thoroughly before, all the way back on Jan. 21 when they were housed by the New York Knicks, 120-66.
Honestly, the most interesting and dramatic moment of the game came after the opening tip. After no one was able to corral the loose ball, the Nets were awarded possession without any time coming off the clock. Detroit head coach JB Bickerstaff promptly received a technical for his reaction to the call.
JB Bickerstaff received a technical foul 1 second into this game for clapping LMAO pic.twitter.com/Oh7lqrfVmQ
— Pistons Talk (@Pistons__Talk) February 1, 2026
Brooklyn's Egor Demin would make the free look from the charity stripe, giving his team a 1-0 lead that did not, in fact, hold up.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Pistons Set a Record for Most Lopsided Win Despite Trailing Before Clock Started.
