Brooklyn Nets Knock Off Pistons in Preseason Opener

Final. 101. 147. 94. 64

The Brooklyn Nets opened up their preseason Thursday night against the Detroit Pistons. Brooklyn came out with their first preseason victory.

The Brooklyn Nets entered the preseason with many new faces. The new-look team was able to get their first preseason win in a matchup against the Detroit Pistons.

The Nets were without rookie Caris LeVert, who is still recovering from his offseason foot surgery. Brooklyn also did not play Bojan Bogdanovic, Egidijus Mockevicius, Beau Beech, and Isaiah Whitehead. Detroit was missing Reggie Jackson, who will miss at least six weeks with a knee injury.

The Pistons got off to a strong start in the game thanks to Andre Drummond, who scored the first four points. Jeremy Lin scored the first points for the Nets with a three. Soon enough, Detroit started pulling away. A 5-0 run by the Pistons brought their lead to 14-6 and forced Nets head coach Kenny Atkinson to call a timeout.

Brooklyn regrouped following the timeout and began closing in on the gap. Following the timeout, the Nets went on a 7-0 run, bringing their deficit down to one at 14-13. Midway into the first quarter, the Nets took a 17-16 lead off a hook shot by Brook Lopez. Brooklyn was able to close out the first quarter strong, and both sides were tied at 32 apiece.

A slam by Jon Leuer, followed by a three by Brook Lopez opened up the second period. The ties and lead changes continued in the second quarter, as both sides traded leads throughout.

Following a Nets timeout, Brooklyn went on a 7-0 run to take a 42-38 lead. Shortly after, the Nets extended their lead to six at 47-41 following a three-pointer from Jeremy Lin.

Detroit again brought the game closer halfway into the second quarter. Coming out of a timeout, the Pistons went on a 7-0 run, and took the lead at 48-47 with 4:52 remaining in the half.

The second quarter was also marked by a strong hustle by Sean Kilpatrick. With 2:20 remaining in the half, Kilpatrick was able to come up with a steal by diving for the ball. Despite an underwhelming performance from Kilpatrick, his steal was one of the main highlights of the game.

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The back and forth continued throughout the second quarter, and the half ended with Detroit leading by two at 59-57. Jeremy Lin converted on two threes in the second period, and finished the half with 15 points. Both teams closed out the half shooting at over 50 percent from the field.

The second half saw some more close action, but there was a moment when Brooklyn began to pull away. Led by two three-pointers from Jeremy Lin, the Nets went on a 14-0 run to take their largest lead at 73-63. Detroit made a strong push to close out the third, The Pistons regained a 78-77 lead as they entered the final period.

The fourth quarter was marked by stellar offense from the Nets’ supporting cast. With 8:16 remaining in the game, the Nets trailed the Pistons 85-86, but that was their last deficit. Brooklyn went on to outscore Detroit 16 to 6, and they never looked back. The Nets cracked the 100-point mark with 1:45 to go in the fourth and safely dribbled it out on their last possession.

Jeremy Lin finished with a game-high 21 points in just 17 minutes of action. Detroit was led by Andre Drummond and Marcus Morris, who both contributed 17 points apiece.

Next: Comparing the Knicks' and Nets' Starting Five

This was Atkinson’s first game as a head coach in the NBA, and the Nets showed promise in their first game together. Brooklyn deployed 15 players during the game, and seven Nets finished the game with at least one three-pointer. The Nets finished the game shooting at an impressive 41.2 percent from long range.

Brooklyn will face the New York Knicks on Saturday at Madison Square Garden.