Auburn Hills, MI (Sports Network) - Tayshaun Prince finished with 16 points, seven rebounds and five assists, as the Detroit Pistons held on for an 83-75 win over the New Jersey Nets.
Allen Iverson added 19 points, four boards and four assists for Detroit, which extended its winning streak to five games. Rodney Stuckey ended with 11 points and Arron Afflalo had 10 in the win for the Pistons, who again played without Richard Hamilton, who missed his third consecutive game with a groin injury.
Brook Lopez ended with 23 points and 12 rebounds to pace the Nets, who have dropped two in a row and three of four. Devin Harris added 19 points and nine assists in the loss.
After the Nets were down for double-digits for most of the second and third quarters, they trimmed their deficit to single digits in the fourth. An eight- point burst -- Lopez had four points and Harris made two free throws to end it, bringing New Jersey within 69-62 with about seven minutes left.
A few minutes later, Harris' three-point play and Yi Jianlian's bucket brought New Jersey within 75-72 with three minutes to play.
But Iverson responded with two consecutive baskets for a seven-point Pistons lead, and the Nets had just one field goal the rest of the way as Detroit held on for the win.
The Pistons ended the first quarter with five consecutive points to take a 22-18 lead into the second. New Jersey got within two on a jumper from Jarvis Hayes to open the new stanza, but the Nets went nearly seven minutes without another point, when Lopez made a basket.
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Between the Hayes and Lopez field goals, Detroit scored 11 consecutive points. Prince had the final four, which made it a 33-20 game with a little more than five minutes remaining before the break.
The Pistons held the margin, and went into halftime with a 40-29 advantage, then managed to maintain it throughout the third -- New Jersey got as close as five in the quarter.
Still, Stuckey's jumper to end the frame gave Detroit a 62-52 lead heading into the fourth. Iverson then had a three-point play to start the new quarter to put the Pistons up by 13.
