Pistons 105, Nets 100
NEW YORK -- Center Andre Drummond collected 21 points and 18 rebounds for his league-leading 40th double-double, and the Detroit Pistons blew a 10-point lead before recording a 105-100 victory over the Brooklyn Nets on Monday night.
Drummond reached 20 points for the 18th time by shooting 10-for-15 from the floor. His biggest shot was an easy dunk with 90 seconds remaining that broke a 98-98 deadlock.
Point guard Reggie Jackson added 19 points after spending time in a Toronto hospital over the weekend for dehydration. Jackson scored nine of his points in the fourth quarter, including a 19-foot floater with 51 seconds to give Detroit a 102-98 lead and a 5-foot floater with 14.9 seconds remaining for a 104-100 edge.
Guard Ketavavious Caldwell-Pope and forward Ersan Ilyasova added 16 apiece for Detroit, which won despite shooting 42.9 percent and allowing the Nets to shoot 48.8 percent.
Center Brook Lopez led the Nets with 27 points on 13-of-19 shooting but it was not enough as Brooklyn (12-37) dropped its fourth straight and lost for the 16th time in 18 home games. Lopez scored seven points in the fourth quarter but also was beaten defensively by Jackson on his second floater.
Drummond reached his latest double-double on a put-back layup with 9:51 remaining in the third that made it 57-56. Consecutive hoops by Lopez gave the Nets a 63-58 lead with 8:22 left, but Drummond had two dunks during a 17-2 run that gave the Pistons a 75-65 lead with 3:37 left.
After missing nine straight shots, the Nets came back with a 10-3 spurt and sliced the deficit to 78-75 entering the fourth.
Brooklyn's fourth-quarter comeback occurred while Drummond sat and the Nets took an 89-88 lead on an off-balance fadeaway by forward Andrea Bargnani with seven minutes remaining. Detroit (26-23) regained the lead on consecutive possessions, taking a 92-89 edge on a 12-footer by Caldwell-Pope with 6:23 left.
Drummond returned following the subsequent timeout. The Nets took a 96-95 lead when Lopez drove by Drummond for a layup and made the foul shot with 2:55 left. The lead grew to 98-95 on a dunk by Lopez with 2:24 remaining, but 20 seconds later Jackson hit a 3-pointer for a 98-98 tie.
NOTES: Forest City Ratner, the parent company of former owner Bruce Ratner, announced Mikhail Prokhorov bought the remaining shares of the Nets for $287 million. Prokhorov bought the remaining 20 percent interest in the team for $125 million and spent $162.6 million for the remaining 55 percent interest in Barclays Center. ... Detroit G Jodie Meeks met with foot surgeon Dr. Martin O'Malley and learned his fractured right foot has not yet healed. Meeks, who has missed 47 of 49 games, was told to reduce his activity and not practice. ... Pistons coach Stan Van Gundy drew laughs while discussing the dual role of team president and coach when he said: "The GM side gets (ticked) off with the coach, more often and probably more than any GM in the league." ... Asked about the strategy of intentionally fouling weak free-throw shooters, Brooklyn interim coach Tony Brown said: "I get it, but I'm not a huge fan of it."