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Brooklyn Nets Versus Detroit Pistons Preview

By Anthony Parisi

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The Brooklyn Nets(16-20) look to snap their four game losing streak against the Detroit Pistons(12-24) who are 7-1 since waiving Josh Smith. The Nets are coming off of an embarrassing loss at home on Friday against the Philadelphia 76ers while the Pistons are coming off of a 106-103 loss to the Atlanta Hawks on Friday. Both of these teams have played the opposite of each other as of late. The Nets are blistering cold, losers of four in a row, while the Pistons have won seven of their last eight games and have found renewed confidence in their playoff hopes. These two teams have squared off two times this season and the Nets have won both meetings.

Key Matchup: Mason Plumlee Versus Andre Drummond

Dec 21, 2014; Brooklyn, NY, USA; Brooklyn Nets center Mason Plumlee (1) drives on Detroit Pistons center Andre Drummond (0) during the first quarter at Barclays Center. Mandatory Credit: Anthony Gruppuso-USA TODAY Sports

“Eventually there’s got to be a line in the sand, and we have to make changes and come out with wins, whatever we have to do to come out with wins, we have to come out with wins.” -Mason Plumlee

Mason Plumlee recorded his seventh double-double of the season on Friday and his performance for Brooklyn this season has been a huge positive. Plumlee recorded a career high 15 rebounds in the Nets loss to the 76ers on Friday and the Nets will need him to be active on the glass against Andre Drummond on Saturday. Drummond is a rebounding machine who can dominate the opposition on the interior all game long.

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Drummond and Plumlee both struggle from the free throw line, Plumlee is shooting 48 percent from the stripe this year while Drummond is shooting 41 percent from the line this season. They both are atrocious free throw shooters, but their areas of expertise make their bad free throw shooting somewhat excusable. No matter what the score is, Plumlee will hustle and be active all game long and that’s what makes him so valuable to the Nets.

Plumlee is an athletic big who has the capability to put somebody on a poster every single night and that allows for the Nets point guards to throw it up high and allow for Plumlee to finish at the rim. Drummond is averaging a double-double on the season and he gets numerous offensive rebounds to give Detroit multiple chances to score per possession. Plumlee can’t allow Drummond to dominate on the offensive glass and that can be the difference in who wins this game.

Prediction: Brooklyn Nets 88 Detroit Pistons 85

The Nets are desperately needing a victory and with even more difficult games coming up I see them playing at their best tonight. The Pistons have been on fire lately and will play extremely hard as well to protect home court, but in the end the Nets sense of urgency will kick in and they will find a way to squeeze past the Pistons to put an end to their four game losing streak.

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