Detroit has several home games coming up, but it still needs to rediscover the winning formula for the road.
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The struggling Brooklyn Nets actually provide some value for bettors tonight against the Detroit Pistons at 6:00PM ET.
Thaddeus Young had 19 points and 10 rebounds, Brook Lopez scored 15 points and the Brooklyn Nets beat the Detroit Pistons 87-83 on Sunday night.
“Certainly, we’ve played better against the better teams”. Jarrett Jack added two free throws for a three-point lead, Reggie Jackson missed a 3-pointer and Young closed it out with one more free throw. Because of this poor ball movement, the Nets were unable to shoot the ball at a high rate, shooting in the mid 30 percent range through those first three quarters.
It was all part of the comeback the Nets had been hinting at – but couldn’t deliver – for the better part of the second half. And it only got uglier.
The Pistons have a bad hero-ball habit at times, ball movement is noticeably lacking and that is why our FG percentage hurts the way it does. Their rotations were crisp, and the Nets forced the Pistons into a lot of contested jumpers.
The third quarter picked up the pace a bit more, with Drummond catching some of KCP’s hustle, even leading a rather impressive fast-break and1 which he converted. Drummond had 15 points on 7-of-16 shooting and seven rebounds – his first single-digit effort in that category this season – against the Thunder.
It was the Nets’ third straight home win, and for a team that has languished on the road, that’s good news. Yes, they were somehow still in it.
The teams shot a combined 35 percent for the first half before the action picked up in the fourth quarter.
The Nets trailed for nearly the entire game before rallying with a 22-9 run to open the fourth quarter.
Thaddeus Young added 18 points and Andrea Bargnani scored 13 for Brooklyn.
Down 67-59 to start the fourth, Ellington scored five straight points to bring the Nets back into the fold.
Tristan Thompson’s basket with 1:13 remaining gave Cleveland an 86-85 lead and James made two free throws with 16 seconds left, but Johnson was fouled by J.R. Smith attempting a 3-pointer.
Blake Griffin scored 12 of his 26 points in the final 6:32 to lead Los Angeles past Minnesota. On offense, though, he had three brutal quarters, scoring just 8 points on 3-of-13 shooting, but came along in the fourth to help the Nets stay in this one.
Caldwell-Pope made a 3-pointer to tie it 83-83, then missed one on the Pistons’ penultimate possession while trailing 84-83.
Brooklyn Nets reserve guard Wayne Ellington was mired in a deep shooting slump before Sunday night’s game against the Detroit Pistons. Larkin finished with 9 points in 23 minutes off the bench.
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ABOUT THE PISTONS (8-8): Center Andre Drummond leads the league in rebounding (17.1) and double-doubles (14), but he is not immune to criticism from head coach Stan Van Gundy. The Nets will not leave the NY area until a December 18 tilt against the Indiana Pacers.
