EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J.- Bad news arrived in the afternoon for Richard Jefferson and the Nets, and bad basketball naturally followed.

Hours after they learned they’d be without Jefferson for the remainder of the season, the Nets sorely missed his offense in an 89-80 loss to the Detroit Pistons last night.

Jefferson needs surgery to repair a torn ligament in his left wrist, meaning the Nets will have to make do without their leading scorer and rebounder just 3 1/2 weeks after acquiring a third star, Vince Carter.

“It’s tough, we were just talking about it [Monday] and he wasn’t sure what the doctors were going to say,” Carter said.

Rasheed Wallace had 19 points and 13 rebounds, and Richard Hamilton scored 18 points for the Pistons as they extended their road winning streak to six games on the one-month anniversary of their last loss away from home.

Jefferson, dressed in all black, watched from the bench as the Nets got 19 points from Carter, 16 from Travis Best, and 13 from Jason Kidd while losing for the fourth time in five games.

Jefferson originally injured the wrist when he was flagrantly fouled last month by Detroit’s Chauncey Billups on a breakaway. Jefferson said he doesn’t consider Billups a dirty player, but he thought the foul constituted a dirty play.

“I have been in this league for a while and you all can check my record. I know I don’t have more than one or two flagrants,” Billups said. “Everybody knows I don’t play like that. There is no reason to make a play like that, with malicious intent.”

Jefferson had been in a mini-slump ever since being on the receiving end of Billups’ foul, and an MRI revealed the torn ligament. Jefferson will wear a cast for two months after undergoing surgery, and he said he hoped to return for the playoffs – if the Nets qualify.

That’ll be a much more daunting task now that the team leader in scoring (22.2) and rebounds (7.3) is out. The loss solidified the Nets’ spot at the bottom of the Atlantic Division.

Detroit won for the 11th time in its last 13 road games after beginning the season 1-5 away from the Palace of Auburn Hills. The Pistons and Miami are the only Eastern Conference teams with winning road records.

Detroit’s Ben Wallace had 11 points and 11 rebounds, and Antonio McDyess came off the bench to score 11 points.

The Pistons also scored the first three points of the fourth quarter for a 71-59 lead before Kidd returned with 10:23 left. New Jersey got no closer than five points the rest of the way.

Things fell apart for the Nets after Kidd went to the bench for a brief rest with 45 seconds left in the third quarter. Detroit closed the quarter with a 6-0 run, getting a breakaway dunk from Hamilton with 1.1 seconds left for a 68-59 lead. Nets’ coach Lawrence Frank’s record dropped to 37-37.