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Nets hold on to top Pistons

Dec 22, 2014 - 5:49 AM Brooklyn, NY (SportsNetwork.com) - Mason Plumlee posted 21 points and 12 rebounds for the Brooklyn Nets, who survived a late comeback effort by the Detroit Pistons to hold on for a 110-105 victory at the Barclays Center.

"It was a big win for us, we made plays down the stretch and it feels really good," Plumlee said.

Brooklyn had a 15-point fourth-quarter lead cut down to one after Kentavious Caldwell-Pope buried a 3-point shot with 9.8 seconds left, but held off the Pistons over the remainder to halt a three-game losing streak.

Plumlee went 9-of-10 from the field and Joe Johnson recorded 16 points and seven assists for the Nets. Jarrett Jack, starting in place of an injured Deron Williams, contributed 15 points and 10 assists to the win.

"He played a great game tonight. Brooklyn is utilizing him the right way. He's going to thrive here," Detroit center Andre Drummond said.

Caldwell-Pope finished with 20 points and Drummond had 18 along with 20 rebounds -- 13 on the offensive end. However, the Pistons couldn't complete the rally and fell for the 17th time in 19 games.

Greg Monroe delivered 16 points on 7-of-10 shooting and pulled down eight boards in the loss.

The Nets took control late in the third quarter, with Bojan Bogdanovic and Mirza Teletovic each scoring five points during a 10-2 run that turned a tied game into an 82-74 lead with 1:36 left in the period.

Detroit then made just one basket over the first four-plus minutes of the fourth quarter, enabling Brooklyn to seemingly pull away. Plumlee had three close-range baskets during a 15-3 surge that staked the Nets to a 98-83 advantage with under 5 1/2 minutes left.

The Pistons then came charging back behind Caldwell-Pope, who knocked down two triples to spark a 15-4 sequence that Brandon Jennings capped with a 3- pointer of his own. A pair of Drummond buckets shortly after suddenly brought Detroit within 104-102 with 41.2 seconds left.

Caldwell-Pope's uncontested 25-footer out of a timeout trimmed the deficit to 106-105, but he misfired from long range after Johnson hit two from the line to send Brooklyn up by three. Though Kevin Garnett missed two foul shots for the Nets to keep it a 108-105 game, Brooklyn deliberately fouled Josh Smith on the resulting rebound to prevent a potential game-tying 3-point try.

Smith missed the first attempt, however, then intentionally was off on the second and Garnett grabbed the carom with two seconds remaining.

Brooklyn opened up a 13-point lead during the latter stages of the first quarter, using a 10-2 push to go up 28-15. The Nets owned a nine-point cushion with a minute left in the half, before Detroit closed out the stanza with a 7-0 surge capped by a Drummond dunk that cut the margin to 53-51 at the break.

Game Notes

Williams strained his right calf during Friday's loss at Cleveland ... Brooklyn finished 22-of-29 at the foul line, compared to a 16-of-26 rate for the Pistons ... Detroit has allowed 110 points or more each time during its four-game losing streak ... The Nets matched a season-best with 29 assists on 40 field goals ... Jennings shot just 3-of-12 in an eight-point effort.