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Monroe and Drummond lead Pistons past Nets

Dec 14, 2013 - 6:05 AM Auburn Hills, MI (SportsNetwork.com) - Greg Monroe and Andre Drummond both recorded double-doubles as the Detroit Pistons held off the Brooklyn Nets for a 103-99 win at The Palace of Auburn Hills.

Monroe finished with 22 points and 11 rebounds and Drummond added 22 points and 13 boards.

"I work hard at it every day and the results are going to show up sooner than later. Tonight was an example of the hard work I put into it," said Drummond.

Rodney Stuckey poured in 17 points, while Kyle Singler and Josh Smith added 16 and 10 points, respectively for the Pistons, who snapped a three-game losing skid.

Deron Williams scored 22 points while Andray Blatche scored 20 points and pulled down 12 rebounds for the Nets, who had a three-game winning streak halted.

Mirza Teletovic added 17 points on 5-of-6 shooting from 3-point range in the setback.

"It doesn't matter who plays for us or who we're playing, we have to protect the paint and we didn't do that tonight," Nets coach Jason Kidd said.

Detroit outscored the Nets by a 60-38 margin in the paint.

Singler knocked down a short jumper one minute into the final frame, but the Nets used a 13-1 run to make it 92-83 with 8:37 remaining.

The Pistons managed to push their spread back to 12 points as Monroe shook a defender and knocked down a tough hook shot with just over 5 1/2 minutes remaining.

Teletovic canned a triple and Blatche tipped in a Joe Johnson miss to cut it to five points, 98-93, with just under three minutes showing.

After over two scoreless minutes, Monroe made it 100-93 with a tough bucket in the paint, but Brandon Jennings fouled Williams while attempting a three at the other end and the veteran guard converted all three tries from the free throw line to make it a four-point game with 51 ticks left.

Monroe was fouled with 18 seconds left and split a pair of free throws for a 101-96 edge, but Paul Pierce buried a step-back 3-pointer from the left wing to make it 101-99 with just over 10 seconds to go.

Brooklyn was forced to foul Singler on the ensuing possession and the Duke product essentially put the game out of reach after converting on a pair from the charity stripe.

Johnson missed a desperation 3 on the other end and Monroe grabbed the rebound to seal the win.

Brooklyn led 24-23 after 12 minutes, but the Pistons exploded for 38 points in the second quarter to take a 61-44 lead into the break.

Detroit's lead swelled to 21 points in third before taking a commanding 86-68 led into the final stanza.

Game Notes

Smith finished with six rebounds and six assists ... The Pistons will host the Portland Trail Blazers on Sunday ... Brooklyn forward Kevin Garnett became the 10th player in NBA history to record 14,000 career rebounds. He finished with 4 points and eight rebounds in 18 1/2 minutes ... The Nets will take on the Sixers at Barclays Center on Monday.