Los Angeles - With three key players out with injuries, Allen Iverson stepped in to rescue the Detroit Pistons.

Iverson scored 17 of his 19 points in the second half, and the short-handed Pistons clipped the visiting New Jersey Nets 83-75 on Wednesday for their fifth straight victory.

Detroit played without All-Star guard Richard Hamilton, out with a groin injury, top reserve Antonio McDyess (sore ribs) and lost starting centre Rasheed Wallace to a sore right foot in the second quarter. However, the resilient Pistons relied on Iverson's offence, and a stifling defence by a makeshift lineup to hold the Nets to a season-low point total on 37 per cent field goal shooting.