New Jersey Nets cruise past Detroit Pistons 89-74
The New Jersey Nets won their 12th game of the season, by overcoming the visiting Detroit Pistons 89-74 on Friday night at the Prudential Centre.
It was a strange game in which no player scored more than 16 points, but a 15-point win was all that New Jersey needed. The Nets tied the total they had last season (12-70), when they settled in to be NBA's (National Basketball Association) worst team.
Brook Lopez had a nice night with a team-high 15 points, four assists and four rebounds. He was one of the few Nets who had a solid night offensively. Devin Harris added 12 and nine assists for the Nets, who won two in a row. Kris Humphries came off the
bench for an 11-point, 12-rebound performance for the victors.
New Jersey played the game in a defensive mood as Harris said, "We came out aggressive and really played our pace. I thought we got huge help from our bench today. Defensively we made a lot of good plays to keep the momentum our way."
The good news for the Nets was that Anthony Morrow was back after missing 17 games due to a strained right hamstring and managed to provide the difference. He registered 10 points, including a 2-of-3 showing from beyond the three-point arc.
Tayshaun Prince struggled to find his groove, scoring a game-high 16 points in the defeat. Rodney Stuckey contributed 14 for Detroit, who lost their 28th game of the season. Tracy McGrady ended with 10 points for the Pistons, who have dropped
two in a row since going on a three-game win streak.
The Pistons head coach John Kuester stated, "We have been playing awfully good basketball lately and tonight we just struggled with energy. We could not get things going."
Match Analysis
Nets Head Coach Avery Johnson will not be very happy with the way his team played. Yes, they won, but they looked lethargic throughout most of the night. The Nets are still not the impressive team Avery wants them to be. They have to do a better job of shutting
down teams when they get the chance to put them away. They also have to do a better job of making free throws. They were just 10-for-20 on the night from the line; if they do that against an elite team, they will be in trouble.
Badly needing a home win, New Jersey used a 9-1 run to take a 10-point lead, taking a 21-18 advantage into the second. The Nets extended their sizzling defensive play to the second quarter as Humphries' alley-oop dunk put the Nets up 46-39 with 18.2 seconds
to go. New Jersey finally held a 46-41 lead at half time.
The third quarter was relatively competitive as the scores were tied twice. Jordan Farmar's three-pointer expanded the Nets lead to 62-55 with less than three minutes left in the period. Anthony Morrow drained a wing three-pointer to give the Nets a seven-point
cushion (67-60) to end the third quarter.
Sasha Vujacic started the final stanza with a sizzling three-pointer as the cushion was stretched to 83-66 with just under five minutes to go until the final buzzer. Morrow then went for three consecutive buckets to put the Nets up 74-62, effectively sealing
the victory.
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