Spencer Dinwiddie and his Nets seemed destined for a fourth straight loss, and having it come at the hands of a Pistons team that had cast him aside. Then he turned destiny around, dragging the Nets to a come-from-behind 120-119 overtime rally against a Detroit club he loves to dominate and destroy.
Dinwiddie did it with 17 of his game-high tying 25 points in the fourth quarter and overtime Wednesday. He did it with the game-winning 3-pointer on one end and the game-clinching stop against Blake Griffin (25 points) on the other in the final seconds.
“What can I say about Spencer?” Kenny Atkinson asked rhetorically. “Phenomenal.”
And afterward, despite Dinwiddie’s claims he’s not uber-incentivized to beat Detroit — whom he had a game-winner against last season — his play said otherwise. Even the Pistons (4-3) said otherwise.
“He definitely plays pretty damn well every time we play against the Pistons,” said Joe Harris, who added 23 points.
“That man has got a personal vendetta every time we play him. He’s trying to let us have it every time we play,” said Andre Drummond, who scored 24 points with 23 rebounds. “Any time he sees the Detroit Pistons, he comes after us. That’s a great mindset for him to have. I know it’s a big year for him, so I wish him the best.”
Dinwiddie came after them with 10 points in a 14-7 run over the final three minutes of regulation to erase a seven-point deficit. He hit the go-ahead corner 3 with 7.1 seconds left in OT. And he forced Griffin into a miss with 1.3 seconds left to snap a three-game skid.
“That was the only thing that made this win really big for us was the history, because of what we’re fighting for, trying to be a good team, to change the tide of Nets teams of the past. You’ve got to learn how to get out of a rut quickly because they can string together and affect morale.”
The Nets (3-5) were in a rut, blowing a 15-point first quarter lead to trail 85-77 entering the fourth. The deficit was 103-96 when they rallied, or when Dinwiddie started carrying them, as he went 3-of-4 from deep in that regulation-ending run.
Dinwiddie hit a 3-pointer to start the run, and a four-point play to get them within 105-104 with 2:07 left. Then he found Jarrett Allen for a three-point play to give the Nets the lead with 1:31 in regulation.
The Nets trailed 110-107 after Griffin hit a 3 and Reggie Jackson (21 points) hit two free throws with 22.6 seconds in regulation. But Dinwiddie’s 3 forced overtime.
Harris hit a corner 3 for a 113-112 lead, and Caris LeVert (19 points, six assists, six boards) hit a foul shot to make the lead two. Griffin hit a bucket and a 3 to put the Pistons ahead 117-114, but Jared Dudley’s right-corner 3 tied it yet again.
Griffin’s bank shot inside left the Nets trailing with 53.6 seconds. But they forced a Griffin miss to give Dinwiddie one last chance, and he came through. Fittingly, when the point guard ended up switched onto the 6-foot-10, 250-pound Griffin, he forced a miss to clinch it.
“He tried to back me down. I lift. So credit [director of sports science] Dan Meehan on that,” said Dinwiddie, who has shown no fear of big shots, make or miss.
“When I step on the floor every night, in between those lines for the 20, 30 or 48 minutes, I [have to think] I’m the best player on the floor. I carry that with me. That’s the type of chip on my shoulder I have, the mentality I have. Then when I step off, I’m just me. But that’s the approach you have to have. So when I shot the shot, I didn’t think anything else except I was going to make it.”