By Dave Hart
LocalSportsJournal.com

Pistons 115, Nets 103 – The Pistons maintained a tie for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference on Saturday, after beating the Brooklyn Nets.

LSJ Logo incertDetroit jumped out to a 29-23 lead after the first quarter, led to 54-52 at halftime and were deadlock 77-77 after three quarters.

The Pistons closed the game on a 38-26 fourth quarter run to break the tie and pick up the win.

Aron Baynes led the Pistons with a career-high 21 points, while Anthony Tolliver added 17 off the bench. Kentavious Caldewell-Pope also added a career best with eight assists.

The Nets were paced by Thaddeus Young with a game-high 24 points while Bojan Bogdanovic had 19.Eye on the D

The Pistons are now 36-34 on the season, good for an eighth place tie with the Chicago Bulls in the Eastern Conference with 12 games remaining.

Detroit will continue its home stand against the Milwaukee Bucks on Monday night.

Record: 36-34

4th Place in Central Division (13.5 games behind Cleveland)

Tied for 8th Place in Eastern Conference (13.5 games behind Cleveland)

Tied with Chicago for the last playoff spot

Magic # to clinch a playoff berth: 14

Misery # towards elimination from playoff contention: 14

Eliminated from Central Division and Eastern Conference title contention.

Next Game: 03/21/2016 vs. Milwaukee Bucks 7:30 p.m. @ Palace of Auburn Hills

Stats: Aron Baynes 21 points 7 rebounds, Anthony Tolliver 17 points, Andre Drummond 16 points 9 rebounds, Reggie Jackson 14 points, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope 11 points 8 assists, Tobias Harris 13 points.

 

Red Wings 5, Panthers 3 – The Red Wings scored three unanswered goals in a comeback victory over the Florida Panthers on Saturday night.

Pavel Datsyuk paced Detroit with two goals, while Justin Abdelkader and Niklas Kronwall chipped in with two assists each.

Detroit’s goaltender Jimmy Howard picked up the victory, stopping 23 of 26 shots.

The Red Wings cut their deficit to 3-2 with 11 second left in the second period on a power play goal by Datsyuk.

Detroit tied the game 3:52 into the third period on a goal from Dylan Larkin, then took the lead with a tally from Luke Glendening with 11:21 left in the final stanza.

The Red Wings are now 36-25-11 on the season, good for 83 points and fourth place in the Atlantic Division. They are three points ahead of Philadelphia for the final playoff spot with 10 games remaining.

Detroit will finish its road trip against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Tuesday night.

Record: 36-25-11   83 pts

4th Place in Atlantic Division (6 pts behind Florida)

8th Place in Eastern Conference (24 pts behind Washington)

3 points ahead of Philadelphia for the last playoff spot

Magic # to clinch 25th straight playoff berth: 22 pts

Magic # to clinch Atlantic Division title: 27 pts

Misery # towards elimination from a playoff berth: 24 pts

Misery # towards elimination from Atlantic Division title: 15 pts

Eliminated from Eastern Conference title contention

Next Game: 03/22/2016 @ Tampa Bay Lightning 7:30 p.m. @ Amalie Arena

Stats: Goals- Pavel Datsyuk 2 (16), Luke Glendening (6), Dylan Larkin (21), Tomas Tatar (20) Assists- Justin Abdelkader 2 (23), Niklas Kronwall 2 (19), Jonathan Ericsson (9), Larkin (22), Gustav Nyquist (23), Brad Richards (14). Goaltender- Jimmy Howard W (10-10-5) 23 saves on 26 shots.