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Nets beat Pistons to get back in East semi-finals
Richard Jefferson contributed 30 points, eight rebounds and five assists to pave the way for the New Jersey Nets to thump the Detroit Pistons 82-64 in their Eastern Conference semi-finals Sunday.
Thanks to a strong defensive effort, the Nets rebounded from their opening two losses in Detroit to dominate in front of 19,000 delighted home fans.
The twice defending East champion Nets took charge in the early going, snatching a 31-13 lead after one quarter.
Detroit cut the deficit to nine points by the half but was then held to 14 points in the third quarter and 12 in the final session.
Jefferson's career playoff high points total was more than enough to offset a poor shooting night by Jason Kidd and Kenyon Martin's foul trouble which limited him to 21 minutes.
Kerry Kittles added 17 points for the Nets while Martin had 13 points and nine rebounds despite playing with four fouls for much of the night.
Kidd scored five points on 2-for-14 shooting but chipped in with 12 assists and seven rebounds as New Jersey recovered from defeats by 22 and 15 points in the first two games of the series.
Ben Wallace performed well for Detroit with 24 rebounds and 15 points. Richard Hamilton also notched 15 points and Tayshaun Prince added 10 but no other Pistons player scored in double figures.
New Jersey's excellent defensive work was especially evident on Chauncey Billups, who averaged 17 points for Detroit in the first two games.
Billups was held to two points on 1-for-10 shooting in 38 minutes Sunday. |
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