Jerry Stackhouse drives against Detroit Pistons forward Khris Middleton (32)...

Jerry Stackhouse drives against Detroit Pistons forward Khris Middleton (32) during the first half. (March 18, 2013) Credit: AP

AUBURN HILLS, Mich. -- Things were going so well for the Nets, given the beatdown they were putting on the Pistons, there wasn't all that much to dissect at halftime.

So a few of the Nets bolted the locker room much earlier than usual so they could get a look at En Vogue belting out a few of their old tunes in a mini-concert.

Jerry Stackhouse sang along with the trio of R&B divas. Joe Johnson and MarShon Brooks watched. Mirza Teletovic appeared to be trying to figure out exactly what was going on.

"They looked a little different than they did back in the day,'' Johnson said after the Nets pounded Detroit, 119-82, at The Palace of Auburn Hills Monday night. "But they still sound good and I was definitely impressed. I enjoyed it. When you hear old-school music, it just brings back memories of what you were doing at that point in time or maybe who you were with. So it was all right. I really, really enjoyed it.''

Just what kind of memories did En Vogue's tunes evoke in Johnson?

"I was a young buck,'' he said. "My mom and my uncles were jamming to that. I was probably just riding in the back seat.''

En Vogue surely got more of a rise out of the Nets (39-28) than the hapless Pistons did. The Nets were all business, throttling Detroit (23-46) from the opening tap, giving the sparse crowd little to get worked up about other than En Vogue's cameo.

They led by 43 points in the second half and cruised, allowing interim coach P.J. Carlesimo to rest his starters for the entire fourth quarter.

"I think we played a little angry tonight,'' said Stackhouse, who had 10 points and three assists off the bench in his first action in nearly two months.

Earning their most lopsided win since pasting Orlando, 107-68, on Nov. 9 certainly wasn't a bad way to start their eight consecutive games on the road and rebound from Sunday's home loss to the Hawks. The Nets remained one game behind the Atlantic Division-leading Knicks (39-26), who beat the Jazz Monday night.

"I'm very proud,'' Carlesimo said. "The NBA season goes like that. You go up, you go back a little, you go up. It's just you want it all. You don't want to take the steps back.

"We took a step back last night. We took a couple of steps forward tonight in a lot of ways -- (a) just responding and (b), getting another road win over another Eastern team.''

Deron Williams was on a mission, netting 31 points, shooting 10-for-18 and going 4-for-8 from three-point range. He had 14 points and three of his five assists in the first quarter and scored 14 points in the third.

"I was just trying to be aggressive, make up for last night,'' Williams said. "I didn't think I was aggressive enough throughout the course of the [Hawks] game and I just wanted to kind of impose my will a little bit more in this game.''

Now he'll have to try to do it again Wednesday in what likely will be a hostile environment in Dallas, his hometown. Mavericks fans probably aren't going to be in a forgiving mood after Williams spurned them and elected to re-sign with the Nets over the summer.

"Usually, I get cheers,'' he said. "Now I'll probably get booed. I don't know why. I didn't leave. I never said I was going to go there.''

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