Final
Nets-Pistons Preview
Jan 9, 2016 - 5:24 AM The Detroit Pistons have easily handled their past two home opponents and a visit from the lowly Brooklyn Nets would appear to give them a promising chance to make it three consecutive blowouts.The Nets, though, have played relatively well on the road of late and have dominated the recent series against the Pistons heading into Saturday night's matchup.
Detroit (20-16) has won its past two home games by a combined 51 points and routed coach Stan Van Gundy's former team, Orlando, 115-89 on Monday. The Pistons followed by snapping a three-game road losing streak with a 99-94 win against Boston on Wednesday.
Detroit had strong showings in the fourth quarters of both games, outscoring the Celtics 33-19 and the Magic 27-15. Reggie Jackson had nine of his team-best 24 points in the final period Wednesday, and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope finished with 20.
"We've had a lot of these type of games this year," Van Gundy said. ''The problem with it is, as I just said to them, is we've done this so many times, I think we're starting to fall into, 'We don't need to play until the fourth quarter,' and that can be dangerous because these games can start to turn on you."
Detroit was outscored 28-16 in the fourth quarter in an 87-83 loss in Brooklyn on Nov. 29, the Pistons' fourth in their last five games against the Nets.
Brooklyn has also won three of its past four road contests following a 1-12 start there, but was swept in a three-game homestand to start this week. The Nets (10-26) had two of their worst scoring performances of the season in the last two contests, including an 83-77 loss to Orlando on Friday.
They shot 39.7 percent against the Magic and the same in a 91-74 loss to Toronto on Wednesday. Brooklyn still managed to take a four-point lead in the fourth quarter Friday but was outscored 23-13 in the final 11 minutes of its ninth consecutive home loss.
"We're playing well enough on the defensive end to win games. Offensively, we've got to make shots and execute down the stretch," point guard Shane Larkin said. "It was frustrating to be up in the fourth quarter and not be able to close it out."
The trip to Detroit is the Nets' only road game in a stretch of seven contests. Brooklyn will open another three-game homestand Monday against San Antonio.
The Nets have lost three of their last four visits to the Pistons, splitting two last season.
Thaddeus Young is averaging 19.3 points on 56.4 percent shooting in his last seven games against the Pistons. He had a team-best 19 on 9-of-12 shooting and 10 rebounds in the win in November.
Nets leading scorer Brook Lopez has been at nearly the other end of the spectrum, shooting 33.3 percent and averaging 13.0 points in his past two matchups.
Caldwell-Pope, averaging 19.8 points in his last four games, scored 21 in the most recent meeting. Andre Drummond is averaging 18.1 points and 15.4 rebounds in his last seven matchups.
Jackson was limited to eight points on 4-of-20 shooting in November after scoring a combined 44 in his previous two games against the Nets.
- BROOKLYN: 89
DETROIT: 103
Final
Jan 9 9:38 PM - BROOKLYN: 89
DETROIT: 103
End of Regulation
Jan 9 9:37 PM - End of 4th Quarter.
Jan 9 9:37 PM - BROOKLYN: 66
DETROIT: 72
End of 3rd
Jan 9 9:10 PM - End of 3rd Quarter.
Jan 9 9:09 PM - BROOKLYN: 46
DETROIT: 56
Halftime
Jan 9 8:31 PM - End of 1st Half.
Jan 9 8:31 PM - BROOKLYN: 23
DETROIT: 33
End of 1st
Jan 9 8:04 PM - End of 1st Quarter.
Jan 9 8:04 PM - BROOKLYN: 0
DETROIT: 0
1st Quarter - 12:00
Jan 9 7:41 PM - Brook Lopez vs. Andre Drummond (Reggie Jackson gains possession)
Jan 9 7:40 PM
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