Things did not go well for the Denver Nuggets last night. They faced the top team in the NBA and gave up 149 points. Utterly ridiculous. The nice thing in the NBA though is that there is little time to dwell on it. The Nuggets are back in action tonight against the Detroit Pistons. The Pistons are not the best team in the NBA, far from it. They have been a high lottery team for what feels like at least a decade and really haven’t been any good since they traded the Nuggets for Allen Iverson way back in 2008. Of course, Denver’s shown this season that opponents with even the most woeful of records can get a W against the Nuggets so there’s no time to overlook this opponent either.
The Essentials
Who: Denver Nuggets (16-13) vs Detroit Pistons (14-17)
When: 7:00 PM MST
Where: The Can. Denver, CO.
How to watch/listen: Denver Stiffs does not condone piracy…unless its the romanticized 17th century type. Altitude TV where available, NBA League pass for those not in the Nuggets market, Altitude+, 92.5FM Altitude Radio.
Rival blog: Detroit Bad Boys
The Matchup
| Position | Nuggets | Pistons | Advantage |
| PG | Jamal Murray | Jaden Ivey | Even |
| SG | Russell Westbrook | Cade Cunningham | Pistons |
| SF | Christian Braun | Tim Hardaway Jr. | Nuggets |
| PF | Michael Porter Jr. | Tobias Harris | Nuggets |
| C | Nikola Jokic | Jalen Duren | Nuggets |
| Bench | Julian Strawther, Peyton Watson, Hunter Tyson, DeAndre Jordan | Malik Beasley, Ausar Thompson, Paul Reed, Simone Fontecchio, Marcus Sasser | Even |
Injury report*: Jamal Murray – questionable (ankle), Aaron Gordon – out (calf), Vlatko Cancar – out (knee), DaRon Holmes II – out (achilles), Trey Alexander – out (G-League), PJ Hall – out (G-League); Isaiah Stewart – probable (knee), Bobi Klintman – out (G-League), Daniss Jenkins – out (G-League), Cole Swider – out (G-League), Alondes Williams – out (G-League). *The Nuggets injury report was not published at time of writing.
The Three Things
The thing to watch for: perimeter defense
Last night I was worried about the Nuggets defending the interior, so naturally they got smoked from the perimeter. Ugh. I’ll shift gears to that tonight but not because my concerns about Denver’s ability to defend the paint and rebound have been assuaged, rather, they once again face a premier pair of guards and I’m hoping they don’t surrender 50+ to this duo. Cade Cunningham is really blossoming into a star player and starting to live up to the hype that came with him as a #1 overall pick back in 2021. Jaden Ivey is likewise blossoming and living up to the hype of being a #5 overall pick in 2022. Whether it’s Jamal Murray, Russell Westbrook, Christian Braun or if Michael Malone has to don a Nuggets jersey himself tonight I don’t care, someone has to defend these guys and make life difficult on them
The thing to remember: these aren’t your slightly older brother’s Pistons
Detroit has been bad for a very very long time. Over the past fifteen seasons they have as many sub 20 win seasons as they do playoff appearances (2), but change is afoot. Cunningham maybe didn’t develop as quickly as some thought but he’s always shown the flashes and now they are being fully realized. Meanwhile, when you spend year after year in the high lottery I don’t care how bad you are at drafting, eventually you’re going to hit on some of those picks and the Pistons appear to be hitting with regularity now. In addition to Cunningham and Ivey there is Jalen Duren (13th overall, 2022) who has proven to be a capable starting big and Ausar Thompson (5th overall, 2023) continues to develop. Detroit’s also added veterans like Malik Beasley and Tobias Harris to balance out their roster and they found Simone Fontecchio in the Utah Jazz bargain bin and made him into a rotation player. They’re not a title contender by any means but the days of expecting the Pistons to be a walk in the park is over. This is a young and talented team who is hungry to become a winner in the NBA. If the Nuggets don’t take them seriously they’ll be staring at their third loss in a row.
The thing to bet: Jamal Murray over 20.5 points (-105)
I continue to advise betting on Murray lines because they continue to pay out. Christmas stinker aside, Jamal is scoring over 20 with regularity these days and to get -105 for over 20.5 points is too easy. I’m a little worried because it’s a B2B and Jamal carries an injury designation so a chance he ends up resting tonight but if he is a confirmed go then this seems like an easy bet to me.
