The Brooklyn Nets defeated the Detroit Pistons 96-90 at Little Caesars Arena on Friday, claiming their fourth straight win.

Kevin Durant continued to be dominant on the court by dropping 29 points, 10 rebounds and five assists. It took him two quarters to find his touch but when he did in the third quarter, KD went 5-6 in field goals (FGs) and 2-2 from downtown to get 12 points and three rebounds, leading a 39-23 run for the Nets.

"I was getting to my spots, but my fundamentals weren't there. If I had made the shots I should have made, it wouldn't have been close down the stretch," Durant said after the game.

James Harden again made contributions other than scoring with a triple-double of 13 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists. Harden shot well at the 3-point line as he made three of five attempts there, but he was disappointingly 0-5 below the free throw line.

The other concerning part was the nine turnovers he committed. Despite being an excellent passer, Harden built his orchestrating plays on his individual offensive threat. He lost a great part of that threat due to obvious lack of explosiveness, which was revealed on the floor in those moments when he could not get off the defender completely. When he could not change the opponents' defense like he used to, it was easy for some of his passes to turn sloppy turnovers.

"You are going to have games where emotionally, physically or mentally you just aren't sharp. I didn't think we were as sharp as we needed to be tonight, but we scrapped defensively and won the game," said Steve Nash, head coach of the Nets.

The Pistons were still trying to fix their terrible shooting performance, just like their first-overall selection of the 2021 Class, Cade Cunningham. In his first back-to-back appearance, the 20-year-old was 3-7 behind the arc to get 17 points and four rebounds. That was much better than his 1-21 performance in the previous three games.

But it won't delight the Pistons to see him go 1-6 in middle-range jumpers, nor will his six turnovers. His season began later than most from his class because of injury. And Cunningham does not possess the top athleticism of Jalen Green or Scottie Barnes. His advantage is better court vision and a more reasonable reading of the game. That's why it will understandably take him longer to adapt to the NBA.

Durant exchanged jerseys with Cunningham after the game. "I love Cade's game. He's going to be a tough, tough cover for a long, long time,"said KD, who denied Cunningham's last shot. "I've known him since he was in high school. He's one of my guys. I'm looking forward to seeing his career." 

Knicks smash Bucks coming back from 21-point trail

The New York Knicks beat the Milwaukee Bucks 113-98 at Fiserv Forum on Friday, giving the reigning champions their fourth loss in five games.

The Knicks trailed by 21 points at most in the game after a disappointing 38-19 Q1 in which they were 8-25 in FGs and 3-16 in triples. The Bucks' 8-16 shooting performance from downtown was sharp, but the Knicks had only themselves to blame for their slow return to defense after missing the shot in the quarter.

However, the Bucks' touch kept growing cold from Q2 while the Knicks' steadfast efforts in charging the paint began to pay off. They scored 46 points in the paint, grabbed 45 rebounds and earned 26 free throws (21 made) after the first quarter.

Julius Randle scored 32 points, 12 rebounds and four assists for the Knicks. He and his teammates had a total of 20 offensive rebounds and turned them into 20 second-chance points. When they were making trouble under the rim, Derrick Rose took over the perimeter offense to put down 23 points, eight rebounds and four assists off the bench.

"I'm playing with joy. It ain't happiness, it's joy. I've been through a lot. I'm in a great place and I'm on a very talented team. I don't have to score. I don't have that burden. I can go out there and play the game and try to affect the game by passing or just pushing the ball," said Rose.

The Bucks couldn't miss Brook Lopez more after watching Giannis Antetokounmpo run himself off his feet defensively. The Greek Freak still managed to get 25 points, seven rebounds, four assists and two steals, but he couldn't carry the team's defense all by himself.

Jrue Holiday appeared in Friday's game for the Bucks, but he only received 20 minutes on the floor trying to recover from injury. Grayson Allen again became the only reliable help Antetokounmpo could find. Going 6-9 from downtown and 8-12 in FGs was excellent, but not good enough to help the team win.

Other games on Friday (away teams come first):

San Antonio Spurs 102-89 Orlando Magic

Memphis Grizzlies 87-115 Washington Wizards

Cleveland Cavaliers 102-101 Toronto Raptors

Los Angeles Clippers 104-84 Minnesota Timberwolves

New Orleans Pelicans 85-126 Golden State Warriors

Indiana Pacers 106-110 Portland Trail Blazers

Charlotte Hornets 110-140 Sacramento Kings