Depleated Brooklyn Nets Edge Detroit Pistons, Improve To 11-15!

Brooklyn Blue’s Night was the theme inside Barclays Center as the Brooklyn Nets, entering (10-15), faced off against the Detroit Pistons (5-22). A new starting lineup entered tonight’s game as both Deron Williams and Brook Lopez are out due to injuries. Detroit just wanted to win and Brooklyn wanted to end their 3 game losing streak tonight. Something had to give. Let’s get to the action.

1^st quarter action started off with a bang as Joe Johnson hit a 3 pointer from Sunset Park to take the early lead. Brooklyn passed the ball almost flawlessly which contributed to their 14-6 lead. As the Pistons continued to shoot poorly from beyond the arc, the Nets continued to move the ball effectively to take a 28-18 lead to close the quarter.

2^nd quarter action kicked off with Brooklyn missing some easy buckets while Detroit made some easy buckets which allowed Detroit to cut the Brooklyn lead to 3 on a 12-2 run. Bojan Bogdanovic ended the run on a much needed 3-pointer out of the corner. Brooklyn began picking up the pace offensively and defensively however, Detroit fought back and were within 2 points of tying the game. It took another 3 pointer, this time by Joe Johnson to end the run and go up by 9 as the 1^st half winded down. This quarter seemed to be a quarter of runs and Detroit made another in the final seconds of the 1^st half as Detroit’s Andre Drummond made a dunk to cut the Brooklyn lead to 2 at the end of the quarter, 53-51.

Coming out of the half, the Pistons managed to tie the game then take the lead in the opening minutes of the 2^nd half, 58-56. The on-court tug of war continued for both teams, on defense and offense. Brooklyn and Detroit mostly stayed dead even in the score box as the 3rd quarter went on. Brooklyn’s ball movement once again gave the Nets the edge. As the exciting back and forth action continued Brooklyn slowly built their lead over Detroit. Brooklyn ended the quarter up 5, 83-78.

Onto the 4^th and final quarter, Brooklyn began with excellent defense and even better offense. Mason Plumlee had an emphatic dunk in transition courtesy of Darrius Morris and another underneath courtesy of Joe Johnson. The Nets took a commanding 98-83 lead before Detroit’s Caldwell-Pope knocked down a corner 3. Detroit tried to fight back on a 19-6 run as the 4^th winded down. The Pistons managed to cut the lead down to 1 with only a few seconds remaining. Joe Johnson and Kevin Garnett made 2 clutch free throws to end the game in victory, 110-105.

Brooklyn will host the Denver Nuggets at home, Tuesday at 7:30.