EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — The Nets rediscovered their fast break and took a big early lead, and Richard Jefferson made sure things stayed that way.
Jefferson had a career playoff-high 30 points as the New Jersey Nets finally put together 48 minutes of decent basketball, going back to their strengths and defeating the Detroit Pistons 82-64 Sunday night in Game 3 of their Eastern Conference semifinal.
The Pistons still lead the series 2-1, with the Nets looking to tie it in Game 4 Tuesday night.
In order to do so, they'll likely stick with what worked best — using their superior speed as much as possible, letting Jefferson carry a bigger load on offense and keeping things relatively even on the boards.
Ben Wallace grabbed 24 rebounds for Detroit, but he was the only member of the Pistons to display the same type of energy that fueled Detroit's lopsided victories in Games 1 and 2.
Plenty of factors could have hurt the Nets, including another awful shooting performance by Jason Kidd (2-for-14) and foul trouble for Kenyon Martin that limited him to 21 minutes. But New Jersey never let an early 21-point lead get too diminished, answering each time the Pistons got anywhere near striking distance.
A double foul was called on Rasheed Wallace and Martin with 9:33 left in the fourth quarter and the Nets ahead by 14, forcing Martin back to the bench with his fifth personal.
But Jefferson reached 30 points on a floater just seconds after Martin departed, and Kerry Kittles came up with a steal and turned it into a dunk off a 2-on-1 break for an 18-point bulge.
Suspense was at a premium thereafter — as it was throughout a slow-paced, foul-filled game, New Jersey's first at home since April 20 — and the Pistons never threatened.
Kittles scored 17, but his biggest contribution was his defense on Chauncey Billups, who averaged 17 points in the first two games of the series but was limited to two on 1-for-10 shooting as Nets coach Lawrence Frank made a key strategical adjustment by taking the defensive assignment against Billups away from Kidd.
Ben Wallace and Richard Hamilton had 15 points each for the Pistons, who shot only 22-for-76 (29 percent).
The game got away from the Pistons quickly, Rasheed Wallace going to the bench with two fouls before Detroit even scored a point. Seven of New Jersey's first 11 points came on the fast break, and the Nets took their first double-digit lead before the game was even four minutes old.
A fast-break dunk by Kitties make it 15-2 as Detroit was missing nine of its first 10 shots, and Martin had seven points, five rebounds and two steals before picking up his second foul with 4:38 remaining in the quarter and the Nets ahead 18-4.
Jefferson drained a 3-pointer with 0.3 seconds left in the first quarter for a 31-13 lead, then opened the second quarter with another 3.
Martin picked up his fourth foul — a charging call — just 21 seconds into the third quarter, but Jefferson didn't let his absence become a problem.