The Brooklyn Nets defeated the Detroit Pistons 103-75. Detroit who? BROOOOOKKKLLYNNNNN!!! What a win for this Nets team! This game from the start had a playoff atmosphere and feel to it, and the Nets matched that intensity. Brooklyn came out hot right out of the gates, outscoring the Pistons 27-19 in the first quarter. The second quarter was even more dominant, as the Nets outscored the Pistons 34-16. Brooklyn led the Pistons by 26 heading into halftime, which was their largest halftime lead of the season. Rodions Kurcus played a huge factor in the first half as he was scoring, stealing, and pissing off Blake Griffin. Rodi is the stretch 4 that the Nets have been looking for, and the Nets are a very good team with him in the starting rotation. The Nets and Pistons both scored 27 in the 3rd quarter, and the Nets outscored the Pistons by 2 in the 4th quarter. There’s something about the Nets and Monday home game that makes Brooklyn blow teams out. Last week they beat the Mavericks by 39, and they beat Detroit by 28 tonight. Brooklyn now rides a 4 game winning streak into their pivotal 7 game road trip. Brooklyn travels to Oklahoma City to face the Thunder on ESPN (first ESPN game of the year) on Wednesday in what should be a close game. In their previous matchup this season Brooklyn was crushing OKC early before OKC went on a massive late game run that concluded with Paul George hitting a game winning 3. The Nets will certainly be our for revenge, as that game was the low point of the Nets 8 game losing streak early in the season. OKC has been struggling a bit lately, so if the Nets play their game they should have a chance at a victory. The best part of the night is that Brooklyn regains their spot of the 6th seed in the Eastern Conference. Hopefully it will stay that way for the rest of the year and Brooklyn can face Philly/Indiana instead of Toronto.

Spencer Dinwiddie led the Nets tonight, finishing with 19 points on 5-11 shooting. Dinwiddie said after the game that he believes he should win the 6th man of the Year award, and it’s hard to argue when Dinwiddie plays like he has been playing. Allen Crabbe finishing with a rare double double, recording 14 points and 10 rebounds. Crabbe usually never has double digit rebounding numbers, so it was a pleasant surprise to see him finish the game with 10 boards. Rodions Kurucs had a very good game, finishing with 13 points and 3 steals. Kurucs was a presence on the defensive end all night long, and was one of the main reasons why the Nets crushed the Pistons. Lastly, Joe Harris (12 points and 4 rebounds) D’Angelo Russell (11 points and 7 assists) Jarrett Allen (11 points and 8 rebounds) and Caris LeVert (12 points and 5 rebounds) all chipped in good efforts for Brooklyn. The only bad result of the night was DeMarre Carroll hyperextending his knee, but hopefully he will only be day to day. Carroll is essential to the Nets bench and it would be a big loss for the Nets if he is out multiple weeks. Look for Jared Dudley to return to the rotation if Carroll is out.

The Pistons were led by a dominant effort from Andre Drummond. Drummond finished with 13 points and 20 rebounds. Drummond feasts on teams like the Nets who have weak big men, and he took full advantage of Jarrett Allen’s youth and lack of strength tonight. Blake Griffin had a nice game, finishing with 10 points 7 rebounds and 6 assists. This was clearly not one of Blake’s better games, but he was still effective. Lastly, Ish Smith finished with 9 points and 4 rebounds. Detroit only scored 75 points and shot 26.8% from the field which was the lowest field goal percentage by any team since November 2015. Detroit will definitely look to disregard this game.

What’s Next?

Brooklyn travels to OKC to take on the Thunder on Wednesday, while the Pistons travel to Miami to take on the Heat on Wednesday.

#WeGoHard