VIDEO RECAP – FINAL: #Nets 99 – #Pistons103

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The Brooklyn Nets lost to the Detroit Pistons last night by a score of 103-99  in Detroit.

The Nets went into Detroit looking to win a fourth straight win and it looked good after the first quarter when they were leading 24-23 but the wheels came off in a putrid second quarter.

The second quarter took the place of the infamous third quarter and the Pistons outscored the Nets 38-20.  The Pistons paraded to the free throw line 19 times in the second quarter alone and sent the Nets into a 17 point halftime deficit.

The way the Pistons manhandled the Nets inside all game long without Brook Lopez in the paint and it was eye opening and disturbing to watch.

The Nets did make a valiant comeback attempt in the fourth quarter behind Deron Williams (22 points and nine assists), Andray Blatche (20 points and 12 rebounds) and a surprise second half surge for Mirza Teletovic (17 points, 5-fo-6 from 3-point line) helped get the Nets back in the game.

The game was ultimately decided by a bad no-call on a break away with less than a minute to play with the Pistons up by four points.

The lead was four points with less than a minute to play when Williams drove to the basket only to see Brandon Jennings grab his arm from behind which made the ball go off  Williams leg and the referees did not make the call.

Game over and comeback over.

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“There’s no moral victories,” Pierce said. “At the end of the day, we can’t dig ourselves such a big hole. We knew this was going to be a mentally tough game, and physically being the third game in four nights.

The key was just to try and stay in it early and win it late, but we dug ourselves such a big hole that we battled back, ran out of gas and didn’t get the breaks.”[/quote_box]

[box]KEY STATS:  The Nets were outscored by the Pistons 38-20 in the second quarter and had six turnovers in that quarter to go down by 17 at the half.

PLAYER OF THE GAME: Pistons frontcourt embarrassed the Nets in the paint 60-38 and both Andre Drummond and Greg Monroe dominated.

NEXT UP:  The Nets will be back in action Monday night when they host the Philadelphia Sixers at 7:30pm in Brooklyn.  The game can be seen on YES. [/box]