Stamps at Nets final score: Detroit over .500 after blowout win

The Brooklyn Nets must have realized they weren’t going to beat the blazing hot Detroit Pistons because they decided to sit with 10 PLAYERS as they now do their best to Capture the Flag. Last year good teams used to rest their players against Detroit because they still wanted to win – now bad teams rest their players because they know they weren’t going to beat the Pistons anyway!

You kid, you kid – but look at Brooklyn’s inactive list. I have never seen any NBA team missing an entire rotation.

Malik Beasley got the start again for Detroit as Ausar Thompson was still out with an illness. He was the only Piston in double figures in the first half and led the Pistons to a blowout win over Brooklyn, where the second-round rookies finally saw their first NBA minutes. Detroit was able to stand out against a bad team, as good teams do, and they now have a winning record. The Tim Hardaway Jr photo you saw when you clicked into this article is every Pistons fan’s reaction to seeing a team over .500.

Detroit started the game on an 18-7 run, and a Jalen Duren steal and coast-to-coast slam forced Brooklyn to take a timeout. All five starters contributed offensively. However, Brooklyn closed the quarter on an 18-9 run. Cade was subbed out after three minutes, and Detroit scored just four points with him on the bench — all four coming from Simone Fontecchio, including dropping this Italian hammer on Clowney.

Detroit led 27-25 heading into the second. Most of the first half felt a little disappointing after the hot start to the game. But the offense was actually able to produce with Cade on the bench, with Beasley, Sasser, Tobias and Sasser again hitting four consecutive threes to push the lead to 14. Detroit ended the half up 59-49.

Beasley led the way with 16 first-half points and three threes, while THJ and Tobias both added seven points. It was a slow half for Cade, who had five points on five shots and three turnovers, but it was nice to see some more offensive contributions from bench guys like Sasser and Fontecchio. Stew and Duren combined for five blocks as well.

It lasted until the third quarter, but Detroit was finally able to put their foot on the gas as they outscored Brooklyn 32-21 to take a 91-70 lead. Cade and Tecc each contributed a team-high eight points in the third. Detroit was again able to extend the lead with Cade on the bench as they outscored Brooklyn 12-4 over the final three and a half minutes. Ron Holland had a few sweet pennies for his teammates as he saw the floor well as he didn’t convert any more tough layups in the paint.

The fourth quarter started with three straight threes from Fontecchio, Beasley and Sasser as they helped extend the Detroit lead to 25. For the first time this season, it was those three that carried the Pistons all night. Thanks to that trio, Bobi Klintman was able to get on the court for the first time in his NBA career with four minutes left in the game. Daniss Jenkins joined in on the fun too!

With the game tied after the third quarter, Beasley was the only starter to see any minutes in the fourth quarter. Detroit is playing in a back-to-back tomorrow night, so I’m sure JB Bickerstaff was happy to get his starters some extra rest. Beasley (23), Simone (17) and Sasser (15) led the way for the Pistons, as the sharpshooters combined to hit 12 of the team’s 15 threes.

Cade had 13 points, five rebounds and five assists in just 23 minutes. Both Stew and Duren looked good on the defensive end – Duren had two steals and two blocks, while Stew had two steals and four blocks. The Detroit Pistons are now 8-1 in their last nine games and will host Golden State Warriors tomorrow night.