East Rutherford, NJ (My Sportsbook) - The New Jersey Nets seek their ninth straight postseason win when they welcome the Detroit Pistons Continental Airlines Arena tonight.

New Jersey posted two come-from-behind victories at The Palace of Auburn Hills to put itself just a pair of wins away from the NBA Finals. The Nets had not swept a postseason series until their conference semifinals series with the Celtics this season, and now they can break the brooms out once again -- this time at home.

Game 2 didn't look like it was going to go New Jersey's way. With less than 11 minutes remaining, the Pistons had an 11-point lead. It appeared as though the series would be even at 1-1 heading for the Garden State.

Enter Kenyon Martin.

Martin was a bit off his game over the first three quarters, but he attacked the final stanza like a caged animal. He scored 16 of his 25 points in the fourth quarter, and Jason Kidd smothered Chauncey Billups to alter a potential equalizing shot, as the Nets emerged with an 88-86 victory.

The Nets have now won eight straight playoff games. Some of the wins have not been crisp, but they're all beautiful in the playoffs.

"We kept our composure. It's going to be a dog fight every single night," said New Jersey coach Byron Scott. "We're not a glamour team."

The Nets are a team that likes to get out on the fast break and, when it's clicking, it is glamorous to watch. But the Pistons have done a good job of slowing down the Nets' running game. New Jersey, however, has managed to squeak out wins with some sound defense of its own.

"This is how this series is going to be played, Scott added. "You've got two very well coached teams that play extremely well on the defensive end. We hang our hat on defense just like they do. Hopefully we'll get a little credit for the way we play defense also."

Detroit coach Rick Carlisle was clearly vexed after the game.

"Forget the last play. It shouldn't come down to a last play when you've got a lead in the fourth like we did," Carlisle said. "We made too many careless mistakes coming down the stretch. Turnovers, defensive mistakes, a technical foul -- things that you simply can't do playing at this level of the playoffs. It's very disappointing to come away with a loss at home for a second consecutive night, because we really had the game under control headed into the fourth quarter."

With two home games, the Nets are sitting pretty for a return trip to the NBA Finals.

"That's a great achievement to come in here and win both games," Scott said. "To go home with a 2-0 lead and to have the next two at home, obviously we feel pretty good where we stand right now."

History is on the side of the team winning the opening game. Since 1994, the team that won the opening game of a conference finals series has won 16 straight series.

Game 4 is scheduled for Saturday at the Meadowlands.