Greg Monroe and Marshon Brooks
It sure did not look good, but the Brooklyn Nets somehow found a way to defeat the Detroit Pistons 93-90 on the road Wednesday night. This was the second game of a back-to-back for Brooklyn after they lost last night vs. Los Angeles. The Nets had a very balanced scoring effort with each starter (even Reggie Evans!) scoring in double figures. Brook Lopez led the way with 17 points and 9 rebounds. Greg Monroe had 23 points and 10 rebounds for Detroit.
This game was ugly from the start. The Nets trailed by as many as 11 points in the first quarter, but were able to get back into the game because of Pistons mistakes. They ended the quarter on a small run to cut the deficit to only 1 point. The second quarter was similar. Although the Nets grabbed a lead at the beginning of the quarter, they were quickly behind again by 10+ points. Again, they rallied at the end of the quarter, but still trailed by 6 points at halftime. In the third quarter, each team had small leads and neither was able to pull away. In the fourth, the Nets rode their bench to take a lead at the beginning of the quarter led by Andray Blatche and Marshon Brooks. The starters came back midway through the fourth to try and control the game. The Nets made their foul shots in the last two minutes, and that is what won them this game.
Both these teams looked pretty awful tonight and neither one deserved to win. The Nets shot under 42% from the field and also had 13 turnovers. One reason they were able to win is because the Pistons’ big guys were in foul trouble the entire night. Also, the Pistons were only 3-17 from 3.
For a box score of this game, click here.
Player grades and notes:
Reggie Evans: A-
Reggie was the most aggressive Net tonight. He was the team’s leading scorer at halftime with 8 points. He finished with 10 points on 3-5 from the field and 4-7 from the foul line. He also had 14 rebounds, but was beat for offensive rebounds a couple of times off Pistons missed foul shots. Reggie is not the problem with this team right now. The backcourt is.
Gerald Wallace: B+
Wallace scored 14 points tonight, well over his season average. He was also 4-4 from the foul line including 2 foul shots in crunch time. He made his normal hustle plays and didn’t turn the ball over. The Nets probably would not have won without him.
Brook Lopez: A-
Lopez was again very effective tonight on offense. He finished with 17 points, 9 rebounds, and 2 blocks, all very close to his season averages. He also had a huge bucket in the last minute over Greg Monroe. Lopez has been the most consistent Net this year by far.
Deron Williams: C
Deron again looked uncomfortable on the court tonight. Although he had 12 points and 9 assists, he only shot 4-10 and had 6 turnovers, many of them bad, unforced turnovers. With this supporting cast, Deron should be playing much better than he is.
Joe Johnson: C+
Johnson also had a poor shooting game, only shooting 5-15. However, he was 2-3 from 3 and 4-4 from the foul line to finish with 16 points. On defense he did a pretty good job of limiting Brandon Knight.
Andray Blatche: B-
Blatche again played big fourth quarter minutes. He was only 3-9 from the field, but had 7 points and 7 rebounds. He was the offensive focus of the bench this game and made a couple of baskets at the beginning of the fourth quarter to keep the Nets in the game.
The Nets will have tomorrow off and travel to Washington DC to face the Wizards on Friday night. The Nets have already defeated the Wizards once this year in double overtime and will hope to pick up another road win in that game. FRWD will have full coverage.