Dinwiddie delivers as Nets sink Pistons 101-100
Spencer Dinwiddie and the Brooklyn Nets got the last laugh on Sunday night, as they defeated the Detroit Pistons 101-100. Dinwiddie’s double-clutch jumper with 0.9 seconds left gave Detroit their fifth straight loss. The former Piston finished with 22 points, four rebounds and five assists.
There are gut-wrenching losses, and then there are revenge games. But rarely do they occur simultaneously.
Unfortunately, the Detroit Pistons (22-23) experienced the exception to the rule on Sunday.
Spencer Dinwiddie‘s jump shot with less than a second remaining captured a 101-100 victory for the Brooklyn Nets (18-29) over the Pistons at Little Caesars Arena. Detroit has now lost five straight games.
Dinwiddie (who played for Detroit from 2014-2016) led all scorers with 22 points on 9-for-13 shooting. The 6″6′ point guard also went 4-for-6 from beyond the arc. The Pistons were led by Tobias Harris, who posted 20 points, seven rebounds and five assists.
Detroit fell behind early, thanks to a 13-0 Nets’ run in the middle of the first quarter. An Avery Bradley floater at the 5:03 mark stopped the bleeding. But Brooklyn’s halfcourt offense earned a 30-20 lead at the end of the period.
Despite getting caught out of position on defense, it was the Pistons’ offense that kept them at bay. They began to find their groove in the closing minutes of the second quarter. Bradley’s jumper with 30.8 left in the half pulled Detroit to within five.
With Andre Drummond in early foul trouble, the Nets attacked the basket at will. A Rondae Hollis-Jefferson 3-pointer with 3:50 to play in the third capped off an 8-0 run. Brooklyn now had their largest lead of the game at 73-58.
A scoring burst from Stanley Johnson and Luke Kennard helped the Pistons close the period on a 10-4 run.
One furious finish
Detroit’s defense began to clamp down on Brooklyn’s perimeter shooters. The Pistons would keep the deficit to single digits for much of the fourth quarter. Finally, an Ish Smith triple with 2:58 to play tied the game at 92-92.
The Nets quickly regained the lead, and were up 98-96 with 42.2 seconds to play. On the ensuing Pistons’ possession, Johnson tapped in a missed 3-pointer from Bradley to tie the game.
Once again, Brooklyn responded. Caris LeVert drew a shooting foul against Johnson, and made one of this two free throws.
Detroit, trailing 99-98, was forced to call a timeout. After a broken in-bounds play, Langston Galloway fired a pass to Drummond at the top of the key. Drummond drove to the right side of the lane and banked in the go-ahead floater with 4.7 left.
It appeared that he had traveled, but the referees didn’t make the call.
This was Detroit’s first lead since the opening quarter. Yet, it wouldn’t last for long. Dinwiddie scored the winning basket in between two Pistons. Ball game.
The Pistons are back in action Wednesday night when they host the Utah Jazz. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. on Fox Sports Detroit.