Game 49 Recap: Nets 93, Pistons 90. The One Where The Second Half Picked Up The First

Reggie Evans led the Nets in the first half with eight points and 10 rebounds, a first half in which the team as a whole played poorly

I feel like I say this a lot about the games in which the Nets play bad teams, but tonight was ugly yet turned into a win for Brooklyn. The first half was pretty atrocious, especially the second quarter in which the reserves let the starters down yet again. However, rebounding from a double-digit second quarter deficit, the Nets came back with a fury after halftime to snatch the advantage back from the hapless Pistons, a team Brooklyn (going back to the New Jersey days of course) hadn't beaten on the road in 10 tries.

As they did unsuccessfully last night against the Lakers, the Nets focused their last game offensive efforts in Brook Lopez who was able to outplay Greg Monroe down the stretch to help hold the lead. Clearly, this team is more effective in comebacks when working inside-out (starting the ball in the post and kicking out for perimeter shots when necessary) instead of outside-in (starting the ball in the hands of a guard by the three-point line and only going to the paint when gifted an opportunity).

The win brought the Nets back up to nine games over .500 and improved their record against sub-.500 games on the season to 18-1, with the only defeat coming last night vs LA.

Some other observations I had from the game: Another game in which the bench couldn't bring the same production as the starters did. The Brooklyn bench, only getting points from Watson, MarShon and Blatche, just scored 24 points on 10-31 shooting from the field. Each Nets starter scored at least 10 points, as Brook led the way with 17 to go with nine boards. Reggie, who was the only Net in the first half to play well at all, ended up with a 10-point, 14-rebound effort while Joe Johnson and Gerald Wallace combined for 30. Both Joe and Gerald couldn't find their touch early on but hit a few momentum-building shots late in the game to help bring the Nets a much-needed win. D-Will scored 12 and dished out nine assists but couldn't hold onto the ball, committing six turnovers in a very sloppy and ugly affair.

Looking Ahead

The Nets get another sub-.500 team on Friday when they head to our Nation's Capital to face off with the Wizards, who actually beat the Knicks tonight.