On December 13, Beijing time, the Nets played away against the Pistons, and Harden was suspended, and Durant played alone. The Nets still took the initiative in the first quarter of the tournament, with Ader and Mills scoring 17 points on 6-of-11 in a single quarter, plus Durant's 10 points in a single quarter, and the Nets maintained a 31-24 lead after the first quarter.
Entering the second quarter, the Nets defensive end of the sudden power outage, coupled with Durant's rest off the court, resulting in a direct blow by the Pistons, in just 3 minutes, the Pistons played a wave of super attack waves, Jackson shot 4 of 4 in 3 minutes, including the efficiency of 3 of 3 three points, leading the Pistons to play a wave of 13-0 attacks, in one fell swoop to reverse the score. The Nets suffered a four-minute scoring drought until the remaining 6 minutes of the quarter, only by Aldridge through the free throw to break the scoring drought, Durant returned to the court immediately scored to ease the pressure on the team, the game scored 42-44, the Nets are behind.
In the final six minutes before the end of the half, Diallo broke through to 2+1 with the ball, the Pistons extended the previous 13-0 attack wave to 17-4, and durant stepped forward at the key moment, scoring a mid-range shot and hitting a three-point shot to score five consecutive points. With Adu's excellent play, the Nets rebounded 47-46 and stopped the Pistons.
After the timeout, Stewart scored from the penalty area to withstand the pressure of the Pistons, and the Nets missed three consecutive shots, but James Johnson used his experience to hit the box to score easily. Durant was then fouled for running on the no-ball end, executing 2-of-2 free throws, and Cunningham held the ball to make Thomas foul, and the two sides entered the star time. In the final 2 minutes before halftime, the two sides each scored from their own free throws, Durant scored two consecutive hits, Mills hit a three-pointer, and Cunningham quickly responded with a three-point shot. But in the final leg before halftime, Mills hit another three-point shot. Halftime, the Nets led the Pistons 60-57.
Throughout the first half, the Nets' performance in the second quarter was too poor, due to Harden's rotation, Durant's 6-minute off-the-field break led to the Nets being leaderless, without a core and no ball point, resulting in the Pistons seizing the opportunity to continue to impact, playing a wave of 13-0 offensive climax. Too much ups and downs are a true portrayal of the half on the Net, Nash wants to win the game needs to improve the stability of the team's performance, the Nets have absolute strength to beat the Pistons, the key point is how they play.
In terms of player statistics, Durant still maintains the nature of a super scorer, scoring 10 points in the first quarter, scoring in time in the second quarter when the Nets are in trouble, scoring 12 points in a single quarter, and cutting 22 points, 4 assists, 2 rebounds and 1 steal after 6 of 14 in the half. The other two veterans, Mills and Aldridge, who together cut 27 points, 5 rebounds and 6 assists, are Durant's best helper combination, which can be called the Nets' two-old combination, the older the more demon.
(Lin Xiaoxiang)