This game goes to the team defense and the fact that when these two teams share the court, Jason Kidd is still the dominant player. The Pistons come to bang and they have the bodies and muscle to do it. The Nets did well to fight off the Pistons for the win.
The Pistons started the game out-Netting the Nets with a quick, physical defense and fastbreak points. For a few minutes, the Nets looked outmatched. Then Frank did his thing and by the 2nd quarter, the Nets were in control of the game. After going down 29-16, they outscored the Pistons 73-49 the rest of the game. The Nets unleashed a smooth zone defense that the Pistons couldn't penetrate at all. They mustered 2x7-footers against the Nets 6'9 corp, and combined, they scored 11 points. Mike luvs KG blames the Okur injury, which is definitely a factor, but the Pistons ball movement was poor, too. When Rip has Veal staring at him on the perimeter but backs the ball out instead of breaking his ankles, that's a confused offense.
The Pistons have individually good players, but they don't seem to mesh well. Do they want Rip moving off the ball, Billups on an iso, Big Ben posting up? They seem unsure of their offensive identity. I guess they can take turns doing what they want against a lesser defense, but not the Nets defense. Maybe Okur really does make that big of a difference.
Larry Brown went deep into his bench, which is a good thing, but I have to wonder if the constantly changing line-ups on the floor confused the team execution. Frank used a short play-off type rotation again. For a while, it seemed like the Nets bigs were going into serious foul trouble, but Frank coached his way through it.
Larry Brown was widely outcoached by Lawrence Frank.
RJ came up big. He started off slow and never did establish an outside shot, but he kept attacking. He needed to, with K-Mart battered by the parade of Pistons big men grinding on him. I wonder how K-Mart's tailbone is going to feel for the Cavs and Carlos Boozer. A-Train couldn't get his shot off, but he did man's work on the boards. Thompson described RJ as "efficient" during the telecast - the same applies to Rogers' game off the bench right now, although he didn't move his feet so well on defense. Kittles' stat line was brought up to respectability by a late surge of 3s. Lu shot 2-2, but otherwise didn't do much; of note, he briefly manned the point in the 4th Q while Kidd caught a short breather - not a good sign for the rookie.
Twin and his sprained left big toe sat out another game. Injured big toes ain't no joke - Twin may be out for a while. He and Veal play remarkably similar games, but Twin's 6'11, 260 pounds are missed. A-Train is carrying a heavier load than he should right now. The all-star break is arriving just in time.
Veal played a solid 8 minutes across the 3rd and 4th quarters, especially his work in the zone. He got no love from the referees, though. Rebraca hammered him twice. Veal was called for a foul after he was thrown down by Rebraca going after a rebound, and Rebraca smacked Veal on his corner drive - no foul called. The only bad part of his game was the travel on his spin move on Hamilton in the post - there was no need for Veal to dance with 6'5 180 lb Rip on his back.
Planinic is worrisome. He only played 3 minutes, which meant Kidd clocked in with another 40-plus minute game and a brief return of the Harris/Kittles backcourt. The Pistons are a quality team, a play-off team, and the rookie clearly isn't ready for this level of competition yet. Are the 32 remaining regular season games enough for him to get ready? How many more 40-plus minute nights will Kidd be forced to play while Planinic catches up?
The TNT crew's comments about Scott's firing and Frank's winning streak weren't that bad. John Thompson, who did color for the game, was effusive in his praise for Frank's coaching.
The Cavs game is full of 'trap' potential. After the 'high' of the Pistons game, the team focus can easily slip for the Cavs. The Cavs are easy to underestimate, but they're playing better with their new personnel. It's the last game before the all-star break. The Nets are travelling. Twin will likely sit out again. The team is coming off a tough, physical game and going right into a tough, physical game on a back-to-back.
Last thought. The Pistons game reinforces the idea the Nets will beat the Pistons in a play-off series because of defense, Frank and Kidd.