Three weeks from Wednesday, the NBA will end its regular season and set the matchups for the 2017 playoffs. It’s therefore not too early to call any loss against a squad with nothing to play for a bad one for a squad fighting for seeding or a berth. Yet that doesn’t mean the unlikely winner isn’t worthy of our respect, as well. Some lottery teams relish playing spoiler and will gladly mess with a playoff contender’s fortunes.

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The NBA-worst Brooklyn Nets took on that role Tuesday against the Detroit Pistons, who entered the night as the No. 8 seed in the Eastern Conference. The Pistons got off to a nice start to lead 31-23 after the first quarter but allowed the Nets to take the second 28-13. Detroit managed to close the gap in the fourth quarter and finally tied things on a Tobias Harris jumper with two seconds on the clock, but that gave Brooklyn one more chance to avoid overtime. Brook Lopez did just that with the first buzzer-beater winner:

Lopez finished the night with a game-high 29 points on 13-of-24 shooting to give the 14-56 Nets a 98-96 win and complete a busy night for his family.

However, the result is much more important for what it means to the Pistons. The surging Miami Heat (24-6 in their last 30 games) beat the Phoenix Suns 112-97 to improve to 35-36, good enough to vault over the 34-37 Pistons in the East. Unfortunately for the Pistons, that means they’re out of the playoff picture and one game back of the Heat in ninth place. Getting there because of a loss to the worst team in the league, no matter if it came on the road, is about as bad as bad losses get. The best thing about it is that they still have three weeks to get back into the top eight.

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Head coach Stan Van Gundy didn’t sound especially optimistic in his post-game press conference, either:

Such complaints have been common from the Pistons boss this season, but it’s usually hard to argue with him. Detroit does not inspire much confidence as a playoff team — imagine them in a first-round series with the Cleveland Cavaliers — and seems to blow opportunities every few weeks. Tuesday’s loss was especially galling on a night that saw the Heat beat a marginal opponent and the No. 7 Milwaukee Bucks escape the Portland Trail Blazers with a narrow road win. If the Pistons don’t make the playoffs, it won’t be a great injustice.

It’s tempting to slam Detroit for those failings, but they also could have more to do with the realities of a league where 16 of 30 teams make the postseason. The No. 8 seed in the less competitive conference is almost always going to be mediocre or at least go through long stretches of poor play over the course of an 82-game season. The teams fighting for that final berth are going to drop some games they should win. Expect to see similar incidents over the next few weeks.

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Eric Freeman is a writer for Ball Don’t Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at efreeman_ysports@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!

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