OKLAHOMA CITY — Too bad Brooklyn can’t play the pitiful Pistons every night.
The Nets continued their headlong spiral, falling 124-108 to Oklahoma City at Paycom Center on Sunday night.
Their slump just gets worse by the game.
Brooklyn (15-18) has dropped eight of its last 10, with its only victories during this malaise having come against Detroit.
The Pistons suffered through a 28-game losing skid that was the longest single-season streak in NBA history and was tied for the longest overall in any major U.S. sports league.
Oklahoma City proved a tougher test.
One Brooklyn failed.
Despite building a double-digit lead in the first quarter, the Nets gave it all back in the second.
They never challenged in the third and fourth, completely dominated on both ends by the Thunder (22-9).
The Nets — whose defense has cratered — came in having conceded almost 122 points per game in their prior nine games, and allowed .495 percent shooting.
Sunday was much worse, allowing 54.2 percent shooting, and 18 of 33 from 3-point range.
And having to take the ball out of the basket every possession killed their transition game.
Having to play against an already-set Thunder defense, Brooklyn shot just 38 percent overall, and 12 of 46 from deep. It was, in short, not a contest.
“We had a stretch of playing some high-level teams that really stressed the way we play and made it difficult for us to score,” said coach Jacque Vaughn. “And so that’s why the understanding of how this group is built together [is so important].
“We need each other. I’m not a Hall of Fame coach, and we have no All-Stars on our team. So this is a collective group that has to play together on every single night, and we will continue to grasp that ideal. But that’s the challenge for this group.”
It’s a challenge the Nets weren’t up to Sunday.
Mikal Bridges had a team-high 22 points, seven rebounds and seven assists.
Cam Thomas scored 20 off the bench, but had just one rebound, no assists and no blocks, while Nic Claxton was outplayed by Chet Holmgren despite 15 points and 16 rebounds.
Meanwhile, Oklahoma City star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had 24 points, six assists and four rebounds while Holmgren finished with 18 points, 10 boards and solid defense.
The Thunder put six players in double figures.
Oklahoma City has won four straight and seven of eight.
Two of those victories were over the defending champion Nuggets, and they also beat the Timberwolves.
The Nets certainly weren’t any more trouble.
Despite sprinting out to an 18-8 lead on a Bridges 3-pointer, they couldn’t hold it.
Not even close.
Still clinging to a 44-39 edge after a Thomas 3-pointer with 8:45 left in the half, the Nets went ice cold.
They missed seven straight shots and committed a turnover to allow 10 unanswered points.
Jalen Williams’ midrange pull-up capped the run and made it 49-44.
Brooklyn never led again.
Four times the Nets pulled even, the last at 61-all on a Dorian Finney-Smith 3-pointer.
It was still within 71-67 moments later before they lost contact altogether.
The Nets coughed up seven unanswered points, capped by fast-break baskets from Williams and Gilgeous-Alexander.
The latter pushed it to 78-67 with 5:37 left in the third quarter, and the deficit swelled to 21 in the fourth.
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