AUBURN HILLS, Mich. -- Andre Drummond is starting to look more comfortable at the foul line -- and on this night, those extra free throws he made turned out to be crucial. Drummond had 22 points and 13 rebounds, going 6 of 8 from the free throw line in Detroits 103-99 victory over Brooklyn on Friday night. The Pistons led by 21 early in the third quarter before holding off a determined rally by the Nets. Drummond is shooting 41 per cent from the foul line on the season -- and thats actually a substantial improvement. At one point he was 3 for 17, but now hes developed a routine, holding the ball for several seconds before releasing the shot. "I work hard at it every day, so the results are going to show up sooner rather than later," Drummond said. "Tonight was an example of the hard work I put into it." The Nets cut their deficit to two before Detroits Kyle Singler made two free throws with 10.4 seconds left. The Pistons snapped a three-game losing streak and ended Brooklyns three-game winning streak. Deron Williams led Brooklyn with 22 points. The Nets were without centre Brook Lopez, who sat out with a sprained left ankle. "It doesnt matter who plays for us or who were playing, we have to protect the paint and we didnt do that tonight," Nets coach Jason Kidd said. "Theres some improvement -- we kept fighting down the stretch even when we got behind -- but we cant get that far behind." Greg Monroe added 22 points for the Pistons, and Rodney Stuckey had 17. Detroit outscored the Nets 38-20 in the second quarter and led 61-44 at halftime. Brooklyns Mirza Teletovic, who did not attempt a shot in the first half, scored 17 points in the second, making his first five shots from 3-point range. His final points pulled the Nets within 98-91, and a tip-in by Andray Blatche cut the margin to five. Teletovic finally missed from beyond the arc, and Blatche missed two free throws with 1:38 to play. Then Monroe made a hook inside to make it 100-93 with 54 seconds left. Williams was fouled while shooting a 3-pointer with 51 seconds left and made all three shots, cutting the lead to four. After an offensive foul on Josh Smith, the Nets had a chance to pull even closer, but Detroits Brandon Jennings knocked the ball out of bounds off Williams leg as the Brooklyn guard drove to the basket, giving the Pistons the ball back with 24 seconds left. Monroe made one of two free throws with 18.5 seconds to play, but Paul Pierces 3-pointer made it 101-99. Singler calmly went to the line and made both of his free throws to make it a two-possession game again. "Weve just got to learn from it," Detroits Chauncey Billups said after the big lead nearly slipped away. "Weve got to just quit playing not to lose the game. ... If you do, and you get hesitant and you get passive and the other team gets aggressive, thats what happens." With Lopez out, Brooklyn couldnt do much about Drummond and Monroe inside. Drummonds most impressive play may have been when he tipped the ball back over his head and into the basket with one hand after Jennings missed everything on a wild shot from the perimeter. That gave the Pistons a 50-39 lead. Drummond had 18 points and seven rebounds at the half, and Stuckey had 16 points. In the third quarter, Drummond missed a dunk along the baseline but was able to tip the ball in almost immediately to give Detroit a 74-55 lead. "That front line is tough," Blatche said. "They are great offensive rebounders and they just pounded us out there. The guards are driving to the basket and the bigs are just all over the boards. We definitely missed Brook, because at least hes a big body out there." Brooklyns Kevin Garnett surpassed 14,000 rebounds in the second half. He joined Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Karl Malone as the only players to reach 25,000 points, 14,000 rebounds and 5,000 assists. NOTES: Stuckey scored a season-high 27 points in a win at Brooklyn last month. Joe Johnson, who had 34 points for the Nets in that game, was held to 12 on 5-of-16 shooting on Friday. ... Garnett was called for a technical foul in the second quarter, and Blatche was called for flagrantly fouling Drummond with 2:27 left in the half. Brandon Roy Blazers Jersey . They had already blown a double-digit lead, fans were hitting the exits, and a long seven-game road trip waited at the end. Blazers Jersey . Jeff Green scored 13 points and Kris Humphries 12 for the Celtics, who nearly blew an 18-point, second-half lead. Sullingers 20-20 was the first by a Celtics player since Kevin Garnetts first game in Boston in 2007. Garnett was dealt -- along with Paul Pierce -- to Brooklyn during the off-season. http://www.theblazersteamshop.com/noah-vonleh-blazers-jersey/ . - NASCAR announced a 33-race schedule for the 2014 Nationwide Series with virtually no changes from this years slate. Al-Farouq Aminu Blazers Jersey . The Barrie Colts defenceman, who impressed many with his play for Canada at the World Junior Hockey Championship, is the top-ranked skater in the February rankings. He has 19 goals and 24 assists for 43 points in 45 games with the Colts this season. Chris Kaman Blazers Jersey .J. Ellis hit two-run homers and the NL West champion Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the San Diego Padres 4-0 Saturday night.ST. LOUIS - So much is at stake and with an entire offseason to recover, Boston right-hander Clay Buchholz will make the Game 4 start on Sunday night. Hell be at less than full health, something with which hes become accustomed. "I dont think there is any risk there," said Buchholz. "My one thing that I have is to go and compete. Go out there for as long as John wants to leave me out there, and give the team a chance to win to the best of my ability." Buchholz had gaudy regular season numbers (16 starts - 12-1, 1.74, 1.025 WHIP) but he suffered through an injury-riddled campaign, missing exactly three months with a neck strain. He made four starts after his return on September 10 and in three postseason starts, hes recorded three no-decisions while posting a 5.40 ERA and 1.440 WHIP in 16 2/3 innings. Buchholz appears to tire relatively early in games, twice against the Tigers he couldnt get out of the sixth inning, and indications are hes experiencing tightness in his pitching shoulder. Buchholz promises to grind through. "Its going to be my first World Series experience being on the field, and I think that just the environment, the crowd, the adrenaline, thats going to help me out, too," he said. The 29-year-old has undergone rigorous treatment to prepare for Sunday night. Buchholz has been careful about his use of pain medication in the wake of a bout of esophagitis that put him in hospital last season. "I stayed away from the stuff that, the really strong aanti-inflammatories," said Buchholz.dddddddddddd. "Basically been on the same stuff since the first time during the season, whenever I went on the disabled list." Buchholzs problems of late have started around the 75-pitch mark. He will be watched closely by Bostons coaching staff. Left-hander Felix Doubront and right-hander Ryan Dempster, both starters during the regular season, would be available to work multiple innings if Buchholz needs the support. "We go into (Sunday) thinking that hes going to give us what hes been in the postseason," said Red Sox manager John Farrell. "That might be a little bit shorter of an outing than maybe weve seen back in April and May. But hes also been very effective and were fully anticipating that to be the case (Sunday.)" Itll be a fine balance for Buchholz, who will have to make an honest determination about the state of his arm on an inning-by-inning basis. "Being at this level, especially on this stage, its tough to take yourself out of a game. Ive never done that before," he said. "But with this scenario thats going on right now, Im going to tell them the truth. Its not going to be one of times where you might be feeling tired but still telling everybody that youre good to go. Like I said, Im going to compete and give my team the best chance of winning that I can and if something does come up that Im feeling a little rundown, then, yeah, thats something that Ill let them know." Cheap NFL Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys Wholesale NFL Jerseys Jerseys From China Wholesale NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys Cheap Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys ' ' '