(Photo Courtesy of Sam Greenwood/ Getty Images North America)
Brooklyn Nets 99 Detroit Pistons 103 F
Without Brook Lopez in the lineup, having suffered a sprained ankle the night before in a win against the Los Angeles Clippers, the Nets lacked the size they sorely needed to stop Pistons big men, Andre Drummond and Greg Monroe. The duo finished with 22 points each, to go along with 13 rebounds for Drummond and another 11 boards for Monroe. Trailing 61-44 at halftime, the Nets would come within two points on a three-pointer by Paul Pierce with 11 seconds remaining in the game. However, after being fouled, Kyle Singler calmly stepped to the free throw line and made the most of the double bonus, sealing the game for the Pistons 103-99. Pierce, who came off the bench for the third straight game since his return from a broken hand, finished the night with 12 points.
Starting point guard Deron Williams followed a 15-point, four rebound performance against the Clippers the night before, with a stellar 22 points and nine rebounds against Detroit. It may have been a non-foul call against Brandon Jennings, as he clearly hit Williams while going for the ball with 24 seconds left in the game, which decided the final outcome. At that point, the Nets trailed 100-96 and if a foul was called, Williams would have been awarded two free throws. Replay showed the Nets point guard had clearly been hacked, but it was ruled Pistons basketball after the ball went off Williams’ leg. Head coach Jason Kidd felt the game was determined otherwise, saying, “It doesn’t matter who plays for us or who we’re playing, we have to protect the paint and we didn’t do that tonight.”
On the more positive side of things, Brooklyn forward and future Hall-of-Famer Kevin Garnett reached a career milestone. He now has 25,000 points, 14,000 rebounds, and 5,000 assists in his career, joining only Karl Malone and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in the feat. Garnett had four points and eight rebounds in the contest. The Nets will return to action Monday night, as they host their fellow Atlantic Division opponent Philadelphia 76ers in a 7:30 pm tip.
Notes: As predicted in my previous article, due to the absence of Brook Lopez, the Nets started Reggie Evans. He had a quiet performance, scoring three points and pulling down a pair of rebounds.
During pre-game warm-ups, a group of Nets players joking “roughed” up Pistons mascot Hooper. The stallion had to be dragged off the court by Detroit Pistons employees, but would later get his revenge by spraying Andray Blatche with silly string.
In the injury department, forward Andrei Kirilenko (back) and Jason Terry (knee) are progressing in their rehab and will be back on the court in another week or two. Kirilenko has been out for the past month, while Terry hasn’t played since the Nets November 22nd loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves.
The loss to the Pistons snapped the Nets three-game winning streak.
Greg Aaron: PureSportsNY