The Denver Nuggets once again found themselves missing nearly all of their regular starting lineup against a top team in the league, this time the Detroit Pistons. Unlike the usual outcome though, the Nuggets wren’t able to pull off a gritty victory. Instead, the Pistons got ahead early and ground out a win behind Cade Cunningham and Tobias Harris. Jamal Murray scored twenty-four points for Denver but missed two killer free throws at the end of the game that ultimately spelled Denver’s doom. Nuggets lose 109-107.
The Nuggets were a bit sloppy to open the game which let Detroit get a small lead from the jump. The poor play continued and despite a couple buckets on the Denver’s side they were unable to make any headway on Detroit. The Pistons continued to slowly build their lead as they worked through the meat of the first quarter. Detroit attacked in the paint time and again, but the Nuggets continued to find a basket here or there to prevent the game from getting out of hand. Denver couldn’t string together baskets though and slowly but surely the Pistons lead crept up above double digits. It was an ugly first quarter for Denver when it was all said and done. Detroit led 31-18 after one.
The sloppy play continued for Denver to open the second quarter, the Pistons pushed the lead up to sixteen. After that the Nuggets bench suddenly found some life. They created a couple turnovers which resulted in fastbreak points. They started knocking down threes to cap a 14-2 run and force a Pistons timeout. That stopped the Nuggets from cutting into the lead more but they were firmly back within striking distance. They kept chipping away as the quarter progressed with Detroit starting to go cold from the floor. A Peyton Watson layup had the Nuggets within five with two minutes to go. He hit a three after that but a poor final 45 seconds by Denver let Detroit keep the lead. They went into halftime leading 52-46.
Denver opened the second half returning to their sloppy play. Turnovers led to easy buckets on the other end for Detroit and the lead jumped right back up to double digits. The Nuggets responded briefly but after a Jalen Duren layup put the Pistons up thirteen David Adelman took a timeout. That put some life back in Denver. They went on a 7-0 run capped by a Spencer Jones three that forced a Detroit timeout. They were able to respond and get their lead back up to ten but Jones continued to have a solid quarter and hit another three before forcing a turnover to lead to a fastbreak dunk for Watson. The Pistons were more consistent though, they kept the pressure on and quickly got back up by a dozen with the quarter winding down. Denver pushed back but Jaden Ivey hit a three at the buzzer to keep the Pistons up 82-72 going into the fourth quarter.
Both teams had their offenses going to start the fourth quarter but the Nuggets were able to eat into the Pistons lead a bit. They stalled out though and couldn’t get the ball to bounce their way, Bruce Brown was grinding his way to some points to keep the Nuggets alive but they had little else going for them on offense. Luckily, Detroit wasn’t doing much on offense either and the Nuggets stayed just within striking distance. A 7-0 run put them within five with five minutes to go before Javonte Green cashed in an offensive rebound and then the Nuggets followed that up with a turnover. Time started to become a factor with Denver still trailing seven with three minutes remaining. They kept pushing with the Pistons suddenly finding themselves in a dogfight. Murray hit a couple shots to keep Denver alive in the final minutes. Tobias Harris hit a jumper to put Detroit up three with one possession left. Murray got fouled on a three-point attempt but missed the first free throw which left the Nuggets with one last opportunity trailing three again with two seconds remaining. Unbelievably, Murray got fouled again on a three-point attempt but once again couldn’t convert all three shots. Denver comes up short and loses 109-107.
