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Nets take down Pistons

Jan 22, 2011 - 4:15 AM Newark, NJ (Sports Network) - Brook Lopez landed 15 points while Devin Harris had 12 points and nine assists in New Jersey's 89-74 victory over Detroit at the Prudential Center.

Kris Humphries came off the bench for an 11-point, 12-rebound performance for the Nets, who have started out a five-game residency with two straight wins.

"We came out aggressive and really played our pace," Harris said. "I thought we got huge help from our bench today. Defensively we made a lot of good plays to keep the momentum our way."

Anthony Morrow returned for New Jersey after missing 17 games due to a strained right hamstring and chipped in with 10 points, including a 2-of-3 showing from beyond the three-point arc.

Tayshaun Prince had 16 points and Rodney Stuckey registered 14 for the Pistons, who have dropped two in a row since going on a three-game win streak. Tracy McGrady finished with 10 points in the loss.

"We've been playing awfully good basketball lately and tonight we just struggled with energy," said Pistons head coach John Kuester. "We couldn't get things going."

There were two ties in the relatively competitive third quarter, but the Pistons could not take the lead. Jordan Farmar's three-pointer kick-started a 6-0 run to give the Nets a 62-55 edge with just under 3 1/2 minutes left in the period.

Morrow nailed a trey to give the Nets a 67-60 lead after three. He then carried the momentum into the final frame by hitting a jumper and another triple to extend the margin to 72-62 with 10:40 to go in the game.

The cushion ballooned to 83-66 with just under five minutes remaining after Sasha Vujacic drained a long three. Detroit never threatened the rest of the way.

New Jersey used an 9-1 run to take a 10-point lead in the opening quarter and held 21-18 advantage after the first 12 minutes.

The Pistons whittled away at their deficit and took a 26-25 lead following a Will Bynum layup five minutes into the second stanza. However, Humphries' alley-oop dunk put the Nets up 46-39 with 18.2 seconds left before McGrady's jumper with time running out shaved the New Jersey lead to five at halftime.

Game Notes

New Jersey will round out its five-game homestand with Dallas, Cleveland and Memphis. Detroit will host Phoenix on Saturday...The Pistons have lost two straight visits to Newark...Greg Monroe had 10 rebounds and five points in the loss...Morrow suffered the strained hamstring during a loss to Philadelphia on December 14...The Nets shot 50 percent from the field, while the Pistons shot a pedestrian 33.3 percent.