Pistons hand the Nets dose of reality

Kenyon Martin sat slumped in a chair, fully dressed, with a horde of cameras and reporters in front of him Friday night. He politely and quietly waved them away, his only comment being, "I have nothing to say."

The Nets had spent three days talking, planning and scheming for a way to avenge their humbling loss to the Detroit Pistons on Monday night in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinals. And after a first half Friday night in which they did all the things that they said they would, the Nets were humbled once again.

They had one half to point to, but it was not nearly enough. The Pistons took control in the second half and coasted to a 95-80 victory at the Palace of Auburn Hills, pushing the Nets down by 2-0 in their best-of-seven-game series. Game 3 will be on Sunday night at Continental Arena.

Before Friday night, the Nets were focused on finding a solution to the Pistons' stifling defense. But while Detroit strangled the Nets' offense again to get back into the game, it was the Nets' defense that failed as the Pistons scored 61 points in the second half.

The Nets must try to come back from a 2-0 deficit, which they have not faced in the Eastern Conference playoffs in their three-year run.

"There's a first for everything," point guard Jason Kidd said. "That's what the Nets are all about, doing things for the first time. We've come a long ways in three years. We've had some success. Now this is a bump in the road. We'll see how we handle it. We have to push forward, keep pushing the envelope and keep playing hard."

But even the Nets must wonder if that is enough.

Asked before the game how he had been able to keep his team's attention after winning Game 1 so easily and listening to accolades for three days, Pistons coach Larry Brown said ominously, "We'll find out."

The answer, for a half, was a far different effort from the Nets and a flat performance by the Pistons.

By halftime the Nets had 20 field goals, exceeding the 19 they scored in the entire game on Monday to tie an NBA postseason low. But it was not just the shooting that turned around. The Nets, who were outrebounded by 48-29 in the first game, had 27 rebounds by halftime -- seven more than Detroit -- and a 46-34 halftime lead.

"I wouldn't say it was our best punch," said Kidd, who shot 3 of 13 and scored eight points. "We had control of the game going into halftime.

"Sometimes you don't want halftime to come because we were in control. And then after that, you know," he added, referring to the warblings of William Hung at the break, "we played just as good as that guy sang at halftime."

The big chill

The Nets quickly went cold at an inopportune time. The Nets were coasting in the third quarter, holding a 50-38 lead after Kidd's jumper 2 minutes 9 seconds into the period. And then the Pistons began to collapse on the Nets' offense.

By the time the Nets finally converted another field goal -- a spinning shot in the lane by Richard Jefferson that rolled in with 3.8 seconds left in the quarter -- the Nets had missed 10 straight shots, three of them blocked, and had turned the ball over seven turnovers. The Pistons, meanwhile, went on a 23-5 run and led, 61-55.

The 13th point of the run -- after a technical foul against Nets coach Lawrence Frank -- tied the score at 51-51. The 14th and 15th points gave the Pistons their first lead since the first quarter, 53-52. And by the end of the quarter, the 12-point lead the Nets carried into halftime had turned into a 61-57 deficit.