Mikhail owns arena, Pistons own the Nets
THE NETS fell to the Detroit Pistons 105100 on Monday night at home, their 37th loss of the season and ninth in 10 games.
Brooklyn managed to recover from a demoralizing third-quarter in which Detroit went on a 17-2 run to erase the Nets’ halftime lead. But Brooklyn’s shots wouldn’t sink in the final minutes and Detroit’s All Star center Andre Drummond, who had 18 rebounds on the night, wasn’t giving them many second chances.
Drummond had 21 points in 37 minutes of play, including a stunning slam dunk that capped the third-quarter run. On that play, the Mount Vernon product caught the ball in the air after teammate Brandon Jennings, under heavy coverage on a run to the rim, bounced it off the glass.
“He and I have done those plays before,” said Drummond. “Those passes aren’t usually soft when he’s throwing it off the glass. So I just kind of timed it the right way and put it in.”
Jennings said it was New York City that inspired the theatrical combo.
“It’s just instincts, man,” he said. “I was pushing the pace. I had a good flow going. I seen Andre coming from the corner of my eye. I thought I threw it too hard but he just flushed it with one hand.”
An announced crown of 13,290 fans saw another ferocious performance by Brook Lopez, whose exclusion from the All Star roster has only intensified his play after a strong January, when he averaged 21.3 points per game and shot 52% from the field. Lopez had 27 points to lead the Nets on Monday.
“He’s putting up some big numbers because he’s attacking and he’s doing it in a variety of ways,” Nets interim head coach Tony Brown said of Lopez before Monday’s game. “His post-up game is getting better because he’s getting deep position in the paint. His size and length is a formidable test for the opponent to try to slow him down. He’s also mixing in some face up jump shots. He’s attacking off the dribble from 15 feet out on the floor. So he’s mixing up a lot of different ways to score.” Other strong showings for Brooklyn came from the bench; Andrea Bargnani had 18 points and Shane Larkin dished out 14 assists.
Brooklyn’s loss came hours after the announcement of final closure on the $287-million deal that makes Mikhail Prokhorov full owner of the team and its arena, Barclays Center. Forest City, the real estate company that moved the Nets from New Jersey, announced Prokhorov spent $125.1 million for Forest City’s 20% interest in the team and $162.6 million for the company’s 55% interest in the arena.
The Russian oligarch delivered $70 million cash and will pay the rest over five and a half years — or sooner, if he exercises “accelerated repayment provisions” built into the deal in case he sells the the assets before the promissory notes mature.
Now Prokhorov just needs to find a head coach and general manager to take charge of the 12-37 team. He is said to have narrowed the GM search to a small number of candidates. Meanwhile Brooklyn has two more home games this week, playing host to the Pacers on Wednesday and the Kings on Friday.