Preview: The Denver Nuggets look to bounce back on a back-to-back against the Detroit Pistons

Things didn’t go well for the Denver Nuggets last night. They faced the top team in the NBA and gave up 149 points. Absolutely ridiculous. The good thing about the NBA, though, is that there’s 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’ve been a high lottery team for what feels like at least a decade and really haven’t been good since trading the Nuggets for Allen Iverson way back in 2008. Of course, Denver has shown this season that opponents with even the saddest of records can get a W against the Nuggets, so there’s no time to overlook this opponent either.

The essential

WHO: Denver Nuggets (16-13) vs Detroit Pistons (14-17)

When: 19:00 MST

Where: The can. Denver, CO

How to watch/listen: Denver Stiffs don’t condone piracy … unless it’s the romanticized 17th century kind. Altitude TV where available, NBA League Pass for those not in the Nuggets market, Altitude+, 92.5FM Altitude Radio.

Rival Blog: Detroit Bad Boys

Matchups

Damage 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 released at the time of writing.

The three things

Things to watch out for: perimeter defense

Last night, I was concerned about the Nuggets defending the interior, so they obviously smoked from the perimeter. Oh. I’m shifting gears on that tonight, but not because my concerns about Denver’s ability to defend the paint and rebound have been assuaged, rather they are once again facing a top-notch pair of guards and I hope they don’t surrender 50+ to this duo. Cade Cunningham is really blossoming into a star player and is starting to live up to the hype that came with him as a #1 overall pick back in 2021. Jaden Ivey is also blossoming and living up to the hype of being a #5 overall pick in 2022 .I don’t care if it’s Jamal Murray, Russell Westbrook, Christian Braun or even Michael Malone donning a Nuggets jersey tonight, someone has to defend these guys and make life difficult for them.

Things to remember: these are not your slightly older brother’s stamps

Detroit has been bad for a very very long time. Over the last fifteen seasons, they have as many under 20 win seasons as they do playoff appearances (2), but change is coming. Cunningham may not have developed as quickly as some thought, but he has always shown flashes and now they are 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 some of those picks, and the Stamps seem to be hitting with regularity now. In addition to Cunningham and Ivey, there’s Jalen Duren (13th overall, 2022), who has proven to be a capable starting big, and Ausar Thompson (5th overall, 2023) continues to develop. The Detroits also added veterans like Malik Beasley and Tobias Harris to balance out their roster, and they found Simone Fontecchio in the Utah Jazz trade bucket and turned him into a rotation player. They are by no means a title contender, but the days of expecting the Pistons to be a walk in the park are over. This is a young and talented team that is hungry to be a winner in the NBA. If the Nuggets don’t take them seriously, they’ll be looking at their third straight loss.

Things to bet on: Jamal Murray over 20.5 points (-105)

I continue to advise betting on Murray lines because they continue to pay out. Christmas stinkers aside, Jamal is scoring over 20 with regularity these days and going -105 for over 20.5 points is too easy. I’m a little concerned because it’s a B2B and Jamal is carrying an injury designation, so a chance he ends up being rested tonight, but if he’s confirmed, it seems like an easy bet to me.