The Brooklyn Nets were outmatched by the Detroit Pistons; Allen Crabbe scores 20 points for the Nets in the loss against the Detroit Pistons

The Brooklyn Nets played the Detroit Pistons at the Barclays Center last night, and honestly, it’s been a long time since I witnessed a lopsided performance during an NBA game. It was as if I was watching an NBA team playing a mid-range team on the college level. Yes, it was that bad.

Midway through the fourth quarter, when it was crystal clear that the Nets were not going to pull a rabbit out of a hat and close in on the Pistons, fans started booing. I tend to think booing is disrespectful, but it was hard not to empathize with the fans because NBA ticket prices are not cheap particularly as you get close to the floor.

The Nets appeared to be managing well during the first quarter; Brooklyn was behind, but the Detroit only led by eight points 34-26. Fast forward to the start of the fourth, Detroit led 90-61, a differential of 29 points.

At the end, it was Pistons 114, the Nets 80. Yes, the Detroit Pistons took the Brooklyn Nets to the proverbial woodshed.

“Just give them a lot of credit…,” Nets head coach Kenny Atkinson told the media after the game. “I thought they dominated us. We got off to a decent start and then they dominated us the rest of the way in every phase of the game and there’s really not a lot to say much more than that. One aspect of the game, obviously we couldn’t stop them, that was first case. We’re missing a lot of shots and running back. When you’re missing all the time and you’re running back it puts a lot of pressure on your defense. I’ve got to give credit to them, they dominated us.”

As my mother used to say, “You got that right.”

But, she also said, there are at least two sides to every coin and, there is a reason for everything. Atkinson looking for reasons for how this Nets team, could perform so poorly, particularly when lately even in losses they have been taking teams to the buzzer.

Did the team hit a wall because of the multiple close games?

“I think that could be a logical way of looking at things,” Atkinson responded. “There’s physical part of it and there’s a mental focus and we let the mental part down too. Tonight, it wasn’t just the physical part of it. You know when you’re competing against high-level teams like we did the last two teams here, here’s a very good NBA team, playoff team, and we just didn’t have that level of focus or that level of physical readiness for whatever reason. We’ll analyze it a little more. But listen, I’ve been very pleased with the way the guys have been playing, the way they’ve been competing. Tonight we fell off a cliff a little bit. I always look at this league, especially when you’re playing decently, it’s really the other team that causes a loss like this and they played a great game.”

Yes, indeed, in addition to the overall score, the Pistons out-rebounded the Nets 54-35.

Nets point guard Spencer Dinwiddie, who has been a scoring machine as of late, fell off a steep cliff. Last night, Dinwiddie only scored two points for the Nets and on Monday against the Toronto Raptors, Dinwiddie scored a career-high 31 points. He also posted five rebounds and eight assists with only one turnover. He also had two steals.

And, Dinwiddie, who obviously thinks like a true champion, is not dwelling on last night’s loss against the Pistons.

“Just kind of gotta flush it, really,” Dinwiddie said after the game.

Stan Van Gundy, the Detroit Pistons head coach, came up with a novel idea to eliminate tanking in the NBA and that is to eliminate the NBA Draft altogether.

Detroit Pistons head coach Stan Van Gundy dislikes tanking in the NBA so much that he is advocating getting rid of the NBA Draft to eliminate the problem.

Van Gundy doesn’t believe the NBA went far enough with its draft lottery revisions.

Van Gundy indicated that if the league truly wants to eliminate tanking, it should abolish the draft, do away with the rookie salary scale and make all incoming players free agents.

"I'd get rid of it, just get rid of the draft altogether," Van Gundy said. "We'd just deal with the salary cap. Make all [rookies] free agents coming in, and if I want to go give a guy $50 million a year, good, but I got to do it under the cap."

Do you think Stan is on to something or, is this the most ridiculous idea yet?

Hit us up in the comments section under this video on YouTube

Deron Williams, Joe Johnson, and reserves Marcus Thornton and Mirza Teletovic all connected from behind the arc shooting 70% from three point range

Thank God, It's Friday, Right?

For the Brooklyn Nets, this is game No.75, as they host the Detroit Pistons, and this final regular season series between both teams favored the Nets for the first time all-season, The Nets defeated the Pistons, 116-104.

After failing to extend their winning streak to four straight games after taking a trip across the river to face their brothers from another borough in the New York Knicks, the Nets returned home looking to avenge that 110-81 loss. Determined to right their wrongs and protect their home-court, the Nets did exactly that plugging the Pistons, 116-104.

In winning, the Nets extended its franchise record of consecutive wins at home to 15 straight games.

This is a Pistons team that the Nets have struggled against all year in all three of their previous affairs, losing all three contests.

No motivation needed.

Message received.

Timing is of the essence and with a playoff berth guaranteed in the Eastern Conference, the Nets will look to use these last few games as tune-up sessions to further enhance their overall play and performance as they envision a deep playoff run.

For all intended purposes, it's game night and for those who missed tonight's action, this is what followed:

In the first half, following a 22 all conclusion of the first half, the Nets orchestrated a three-point barrage that gave them a comfortable advantage, achieving their highest point differential of 20 points.

Deron Williams, Joe Johnson, and reserves Marcus Thornton and Mirza Teletovic all connected from behind the arc shooting 70% from three point range, 7-10, over a plus 5 min stretch, which aided the Nets improving their overall lead to 51-31 with 5:12 remaining in the second quarter.

Basketball is a game of runs, and like any other NBA team that enjoys an early substantial lead, the Nets botched their lead within the second quarter surrendering a 14-6 run courtesy of the Pistons who cut the deficit to 12, as the Nets progressed into the intermission period ahead 57-45.

And now your second half.

The Nets picked up where they left off in the first half, resuming their offensive efficiency from the field translating it to the second half.

The Pistons made an attempt to close the gap coming to within 10 points on an Andre Drummond put-back lay-up, now trailing 61 to the Nets 71 with 5:36 remaining in the 3rd, but their inability to produce stops on the defensive end of the floor only gave the Nets the benefit of the doubt in maintaining their lead.

With 5:13 left in the third quarter, a Brandon Jennings turnover was retrieved by Williams who spearheaded a one-man fast-break converting on the opposite end via a layup while absorbing a foul by Jennings.

A three-point play was rewarded as Williams sank his +1, and on the ensuing Nets possession, a Pistons turnover resulted in another three from "MT3" the nickname appointed to Teletovic by the Nets game announcer, draining his sixth three-pointer of the the night thus far, with both sequences extending the Nets lead to 17, 78-61 with 4:37 until the end of the 3rd quarter.

The Nets Public announcer addresses the crowd in attendance at every home game before the start of the 4th quarter advising the audience to help encourage the Nets to attain victory against all of their opponents, and in ending his address, commands the thousands in the stands to "Stand UP".

As the crowd stood, the Nets raised their efforts and gave the fans something to cheer about in the closing minutes of the final quarter.

The Pistons made their final attempt to bring drama to this game, slicing the deficit to single digits, down 9 points, 96-87 by a made free throw from Jonas Jerebko with 7:08 existing in the 4th quarter.

Despite the Pistons mission, it came to no avail as an alley-oop pass from reserve Andrei Kirilenko to Shaun Livingston converting with a one-arm slam while being fouled by Jonas Jerebko, gave Livingston a shot at a three-point play which he completed, increasing the Nets back to double-digits, leading 99-87, 6:57 left in the 4th.

More of the same followed from Livingston who connected on a turn-around bank shot with a little over five minutes remaining and a lane driving dunk with emphasis by Paul Pierce with 1:29 left till the resolution spelled their fate in a positive fashion.

The player of the game is reserve Teletovic, better known as "MT3", who continued to display his exploits from behind the arc and his reliability, adding six threes of 10 to the Nets cause, leading all bench scorers with 20 points.

Livingston led all Nets players with 23 points alongside Williams in the starting unit, showcasing his skills that warranted NBA recognition when he was selected 4th overall in the 2004 NBA Draft by the Los Angeles Clippers.

Immediately following the Nets win, Livingston shared his thoughts to media correspondents from the Nets locker room regarding their performance at home.

"We've been playing well at this arena," says Livingston to media correspondents.

"I think it's a comfort zone and were just trying to build on the momentum that we have".

Like Livingston, Nets Head Coach Jason Kidd also addressed his team's performance in his post-game press conference, which he commented on the success the Nets enjoyed from downtown.

"The one thing that leads to threes is everyone being unselfish," said Kidd to media correspondents.

"When you're unselfish like that, you get the looks that we're getting from behind the three," Kidd continued.

I'd say it's been a successful year for first-year head coach Kidd, who's leading the same franchise that employed his services as a player and now as a coach to the playoffs in his initial head coaching gig.

The Nets stand motionless in seeding with the win, as they improve their overall regular season record to 41-34 currently cemented 5th in the eastern conference standings, looking up at the Chicago Bulls and ahead of the Washington Wizards.

Only seven games stand on the Nets schedule until the conclusion of their 2013-14 NBA campaign, embarking on a three-game road trip as they visit the likes of the Philadelphia 76ers tomorrow night, and back-to-back contest challenging the Miami Heat and the Orlando Magic respectively.

The Nets have their postseason berth but the season isn't over.

These last few games feature what's wrong with the Eastern Conference and albeit a soft schedule ahead with the one exception in the Miami Heat, the Nets can utilize these games in integrating injured players like Kevin Garnett back into their rotations and fine tuning their overall team production.

With May in sight, it seems like everything is OK in Brooklyn, for now.

Jeremy Lin leaves game with a sprained right ankle

The Brooklyn Nets outing against the Dallas Mavericks just started out bad. A 12-noon start-time, which I don’t mind by the way, but inside of eight minutes of play, Brooklyn's point guard Jeremy Lin sprained his right ankle on a drive to the basket and missed the remainder of the game. Lin, nevertheless, was productive while he was there; he left the game with four points.

The Nets trouble didn’t start with Lin’s exit, they were down 11 points before Lin left the game at 7:42 in the first quarter. At the end of the quarter, it looked like the Nets could right the ship, ending the first stanza with only a six-point deficit (32-26).

During the second quarter, the Nets were down by as much as 18 points. And, in a game, in which they never led, the Nets came within one point (93-92) with just under six minutes in regulation. However, the combination of Mavericks center Dirk Nowitzki and backup guard J.J. Barea proved to be a power couple that would thwart the Nets’ drive for a comeback. With just over five minutes left to play, Barea went on a tear, scoring nine straight points for Dallas. When it was all said and done, the Mavericks stole the show with an 111-104 ending.

Nets head coach Kenny Atkinson offered his critique of the Nets last few possessions.

“Yeah, not great execution on our part,” Atkinson said. “And I think what happens is teams start switching everything at the end of the game and the thought is you have to go one-on-one and I think we just have to realize we can keep them moving and when teams switch they’ll eventually break down …”

However, even in defeat Atkinson saw a silver lining.

“To me, the story of the game was getting down 18 in the first half,” Atkinson added. “I thought the second half we brought it, we brought the energy, we were competitive, we were going towards a 40-point blowout quite honestly in that first half the way we came out. We dug ourselves a huge hole, and we used a lot of energy to get back in it, then couldn’t close it, we didn’t have enough to get over the hump.”

Brook Lopez led all scorers with 27 points. Randy Foye was the only other Nets starter in double digits, he scored 11 points and six rebounds. Spencer Dinwiddie came off the bench to score 18 for the Nets. Also, off the bench, Quincy Acy added 11 points, and Isaiah Whitehead chipped in 10 points.

Dallas had three starters in double digits. Nowitzki had 23 points and nine rebounds, Harrison Barnes scored 19 points and six rebounds; while Wesley Matthews chipped in 15 points and five rebounds. Barea and Devin Harris were double-digit contributors off the bench. Barea supplied 20 points and seven assists, while Harris chipped in 11 points.

Before the game, Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle talked about former Nets rookie guard Yogi Ferrell.

"We were all banged up,” said Carlisle. “We had a lot of guys out. We desperately needed a guy that could play the position and hold the fort. I wasn't sure he was going to be a starter right away, but the way we were structured at the time it seemed like the best way to go. He started the first game, did a lot of good things and had a really terrific first couple of weeks. Now, we're at a point where he's pretty much held that position and he's done a lot of good things."

Ferrell did indeed help the Mavericks hold things together against the Nets; he contributed eight points and five assists.

Next up, the Nets will host the Detroit Pistons on Tuesday and then the Phoenix Suns on Thursday. Perhaps, the Nets could string together back-to-back victories with this homestand?

Brook Lopez hit the buzzer beater over Pistons' Aron Baynes to lift the Nets to a 98-96 win over the Pistons

It was a night of firsts at the Barclays Center. It was my first basketball game, and it was Brook Lopez's first ever buzzer-beating game winner as the Brooklyn Nets defeated the Detroit Pistons 98-96. The game was competitive all throughout, as the Detroit Pistons are fighting for their playoff lives. Coming into the game the Pistons were tied for the 8th seed with the Miami Heat.

The Pistons played tough through the 1st quarter leading 31-22. Led by Long Island native Tobias Harris with 12 points in the first quarter, the Pistons dominated the points in the paint scoring 18 of their 31 points. Defensively, the Nets toughened up in the 2nd quarter and started hitting their shots, improving their free throw percentage from 29% to 40%. While keeping control of the ball, the Nets only had 3 turnovers and held the Pistons to only 13 points in the second quarter, matching the fewest points the Nets have allowed in any quarter this season. Nets rookie Caris LeVert led the team with 10 points by halftime and the Nets took the lead 50-44.

The third quarter was dominated by the Nets; Lopez scoring 8 points in the quarter, the Nets would take their biggest lead of the night. The fourth quarter, the Pistons started their comeback. Harris led the team in total points with 24 and Andre Drummond had himself a double-double with 13 points and team-high 17 rebounds. Drummond would leave the game in the 4th after suffering a knee injury. They scored 31 points in the 4th quarter. After Harris hit an 8 ft. jumper to tie the game up at 96-96 with 2.4 seconds left, Brook Lopez hit the buzzer beater over Pistons' Aron Baynes with a 10 ft. back-foot jumper to win the game for the Nets for their 14th victory of the season. It was the Nets 2nd buzzer-beating win this season. Nets guard Spencer Dinwiddie had a career-high 8 rebounds as a starter tonight. Nets starting guard Jeremy Lin was out due to a sprained right ankle.

After the game, Nets coach Kenny Atkinson said about Lopez's shot, "Brook made a heck of a play. It was more of a catch and shoot but he took a dribble, knew how much time was left and made a heck of a shot. It's more about Brook being a heck of a player."

Brook Lopez said he was very confident in his final shot saying, "It felt good. We executed so well on that last play which is something that we've learned throughout the season to do."

Lopez has now scored 20+ points in each of the last 6 games.

Pistons coach Stan Van Gundy said about Lopez's game winner "I thought the defense was pretty good on it... I didn't think Brooklyn got a great, clean look. He's 7'2" and he made a hell of a shot... I don't think there was anything more we could've done on it."
This loss for the Pistons hurt their playoff chances as the Miami Heat won against the Phoenix Suns. They fall a game behind the now 8th and final playoff spot now held by the Heat.

Stan Van Gundy said about the Pistons offense, "our ball movement is sporadic at best. Our offensive energy is not good."

The Pistons look to recapture that offensive spark when they play against the Chicago Bulls on Wednesday, March 22nd. The Bulls are just one game behind the Pistons who are also looking to make the playoffs.

The Nets are now 5-7 for the month of March, their best month this season.

Atkinson said after the game, "We're trying to improve on our habits. We have set things that we want to do and we've kind of set the groundwork on how we want to play and now it's just reinforcing those habits, doing it for a longer period of time."

The Nets will look to get their first 2nd straight win this season when they go up against the Phoenix Suns on Thursday, March 23rd.

With Jeremy Lin out with hamstring injury, and Nets losing more than winning, team trying to get stronger at guard position

The Brooklyn Nets have requested waivers on guard Yogi Ferrell, today, and a few hours later, signed free agent guard Spencer Dinwiddie.

Ferrell is a classic example of a student athlete that did well in college, but his repertoire didn’t translate into the pros. A standout at Indiana University, Ferrell, is IU’s all-time leader in assists and games started. However, despite that resume, Ferrell went undrafted in the 2016 NBA Draft.

Ferrell (6’0”, 180) originally signed with Brooklyn on August 5 and appeared in three preseason games with the Nets, recording averages of 4.3 points and 1.7 assists in 9.6 minutes per contest. The Indiana native was waived by the team on October 21, 2016, and later became a player on the Nets’ NBA D-League affiliate, the Long Island Nets.

Ferrell became the first call-up in Long Island Nets history when the Nets signed Ferrell, a free agent, from their NBA D-League affiliate on November 9. He appeared in 10 games for the Nets posting averages of 5.4 points and 1.7 assists in 15.1 minutes per game.

On the other hand, Dinwiddie has appeared in 46 career NBA games over two seasons with the Detroit Pistons (2014-16), recording averages of 4.4 points, 2.7 assists, and 1.4 rebounds in 13.3 minutes per game. He has also appeared in 29 games over three seasons in the NBA D-League with Detroit’s affiliate, the Grand Rapids Drive, and Chicago’s affiliate, the Windy City Bulls, registering averages of 15.8 points, 6.5 assists and 3.5 rebounds in 33.9 minutes per game. In nine games with Windy City this season, Dinwiddie averaged 19.4 points, 8.1 assists, and 3.7 rebounds in 37.4 minutes per contest.

The California native was selected 38th overall in the 2014 NBA Draft by Detroit after a three-year career at the University of Colorado.

The Nets' roster now stands at 15 players.

Brook Lopez scores season-high 34 points, which lifts Nets to a win over the Pistons with the loss of Jeremy Lin in 2nd half due to a hamstring injury

The 109-101 Brooklyn Nets win over the Detroit Pistons is just what this young Nets team needed after the two-point loss to the Milwaukee Bucks on the road on Saturday and a blowout 118-88 loss to the Chicago Bulls at home on Monday.

Brook Lopez grabbed a season-high 34 points in the win, with 24 of those points accumulated in the first half. He also amassed 11 rebounds, nine of those in the defensive column. And, the big guy didn’t stop there. Lopez has been working on his three-point shooting skills and is reaping the rewards; he connected on four of eight attempts from three-point range.

Coming off the bench, shooting guard Sean Kilpatrick was the second highest scorer for the Nets, netting 24 points and 10 rebounds. Joe Harris pulled in 13 points; Bojan Bogdanovic posted 11 points, and Jeremy Lin scored 10 points and four assists before leaving the game because of a hamstring injury.

Brooklyn Nets forward Trevor Booker didn’t score in double digits, but his defensive skills came in handy. Detroit forward Marcus Morris hit a 3-pointer with 2:37 to go putting the score at 103-98 and diminishing the Pistons’ deficit to five points. Detroit tried to make a run to make it a one-possession game, as guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope got to the rim at the one-minute mark. However, Booker stepped in with a block denying Caldwell-Pope the shot.

“That was spectacular, but that’s part of who Trevor Booker is and why we brought him here – how hard he plays and his defensive instincts,” said Brooklyn Nets head coach Kenny Atkinson. “It was really evident on that play. It’s funny, that was a great block, but I thought a lot of guys stepped up at the end, made big defensive plays, big defensive rebounds against a good team.”

The Nets road to a win over the Pistons wasn’t a total walk in the park.

In addition to losing Jeremy Lin, the Nets blew a 16-point halftime lead. In the closing minutes of the game, it was the Pistons’ foul trouble that enabled the Nets to put more daylight between the teams.

In the loss, Marcus Morris and Tobias Harris each scored 23 points for Detroit. Kentavious Coldwell-Pope added 15 points and seven rebounds.

Nets struggled in the first half, tightened up in second half holding the Pistons to 35 points

It’s NBA preseason and the Brooklyn Nets came out the gate with a win, beating the Detroit Pistons 101-94 at the Barclays Center.

A symbolic victory, but no time to gloat because preseason only counts in that it is a tune-up for the regular season. It’s a time to take stock of where the seepage is located, measure the size of the hole, and determine how to fill it. As a player, it is also the time to give it your best shot in an attempt to make the final roster.

The Pistons had 24 turnovers, which helped the Nets shoot 69 percent in the first quarter.

As a team, the Nets hit 35-of-78 (.449) from the field and 14-of-34 from deep. Defensively, the Nets got out to a rough start, allowing the Pistons to shoot 58% (25-of-43) from the field in the first half, falling behind 59-57 at the break. But in the second half, the Nets tightened up, holding the Pistons to 35 points.

“We struggled in the first half against a good team, a good offensive team, but on the positive side, they only scored 35 points in the second half,” Coach Kenny Atkinson said. “We picked up our activity. I think we were just more active. We got in passing lanes, we caused a lot of havoc out there and that was a real positive defensively.”

Jeremy Lin led the team with 21 points, shooting 7-of-11 including 5-of-8 from deep in just over 17 minutes.

Lin said after Thursday’s game that he knows he won’t be getting eight open 3s every night,

Other Nets players with points in double digits were Joe Harris with 12 points and Luis Scola scored 10. Justin Hamilton and Trevor Booker led the team in rebounding, grabbing five each.

For the Pistons, Andre Drummond and Marcus Morris led their team in scoring, cashing in on 17 points each.

Andre Drummond and Reggie Jackson forces that kept the Nets in Abeyance

It’s Monday night, the first day of February and the Brooklyn Nets have just lost three consecutive games, including one home game. However, still fresh in the home crowd’s memory at the Barclays Center, is the Nets stunning upset win against the Oklahoma City Thunder, one of the best teams in the NBA.

The crowd at the Barclays Center was hopeful to the end, because overall, the Nets were playing fairly well. However, not well enough to overcome the forces of Andre Drummond, Reggie Jackson and the rest of the Detroit Pistons. It was close, but the Pistons still beat the Brooklyn Nets 105-100.

Brook Lopez, aka The Big Guy”, worked his game, scoring 27 points for the Nets in addition to his five rebounds, two assists, and one steal. Andrea Bargnani put up 18 points and four rebounds off the bench, while starting guard Wayne Ellington contributed 11 points.

The Nets led 57-54 at the half and was just three points (78-75) behind the Pistons at the end of the third quarter.

“We moved the ball, played at a high pace, got up and down, got a lot of shots for AB (Andrea Bargnani) in the mid-range, Markel (Brown) and Bogie (Bojan Bogdanovic) on the three,” said Nets backup point guard Shane Larkin on what the team did to get back into the game in the third and fourth quarter.

But the guys in Black and White couldn’t grab the momentum in the fourth stanza. Could it be that Nets interim head coach Tony Brown changed the game’s momentum when he pulled Larkin out of the game at 6:40 in the fourth with the Nets down by one (90-89)and put in Donald Sloan?

Larkin was making his presence felt; dishing out a career-high 14 assists (previous high: eight assists done five times). He also chipped in eight points and a team-high six rebounds in 22 minutes off the bench.

Larkin is in good company. The last five NBA players prior to Larkin to dish out 14-plus assists in a game in 23 or fewer minutes were: Russell Westbrook (3/4/14 vs. Philadelphia); Manu Ginobili (3/1/13 vs. Sacramento); Rod Strickland (4/23/95 for Portland vs. Golden State); Larry Drew (1/6/91 Los Angeles Lakers v. Golden State); and Muggsy Bogues (4/12/89 for Charlotte at New York). The dates indicate that 14-plus assists in 23 or fewer minutes by a player coming off the bench is no easy feat.

Drummond led the Pistons with 21 points and 18 rebounds and dropped the tie-breaking basket on a dunk with 1:30 remaining.

"I didn't do a great job with Drummond. He got some easy ones," Lopez said. "I tried to wrap him up at the end of the game, making him earn it at the line. But it was something that was a focus tonight."

Jackson, who almost got pulled from the game because of leg cramps by Pistons head coach Stan Van Gundy, scored 19 points. As a matter of fact, all Pistons starters scored in double digits: Ersan Ilyasova (16); Kentavious Caldwell (16) and Marcus Morris (12).

Although the Pistons won, Coach Van Gundy was not happy with his team’s performance. Van Gundy can be heard in his own words here.

Thaddeus Young Hero of the Game

In a very close game with 10 lead changes, seven ties and even a lackluster start, the Brooklyn Nets eked out an 87-83 win over the Detroit Pistons on Sunday. The Nets win over the Pistons was the third straight win at home, bringing their record to 4-13.

“It’s really interesting how the league (NBA) is,” said Nets head coach Lionel Hollins. “Last night, we played great and we lost. Tonight, we were very inconsistent and we had maybe an eight- or nine-minute stretch playing well and we come away with a win.”

Brooklyn Nets forward Thaddeus Young led Brooklyn Nets scorers with 19 points and 10 rebounds; Brook Lopez scored 15 points, set his season-high blocks at 6 and tied his career-high steals at four. Joe Johnson put up 13 points, five rebounds, and one assist;
Wayne Ellington was a spark coming off the Nets bench and put up a season-high 12 points. And, not to be outdone, Jarrett Jack chipped in 11 points, five rebounds, four assists, and one steal.

“I thought that we had no real push early on, but Joe jump-started us and Thad kept us going when he came back into the game even though he had two fouls. Wayne made some big shots and Shane (Larkin) made big shots. As we were coming down the stretch in the fourth quarter, I was able to let Jarrett stay out to the end to rest and Jarrett hit a big shot. Brook got going when he went back in again and we were able to get enough stops and make enough free throws to close the game out,” Hollins added.

With pick-and-roll defense, the highest number of team defensive rebounds at 44, and holding Detroit to 33.7 percent shooting, the Nets allowed their fewest points of the season.

“We just played good defense at the end. We played hard, we played aggressive, we believed in ourselves and had a lot of confidence in the stuff we were doing,’’ Young said. “We executed down the stretch, and the defense really took over.’’