AUBURN HILLS, Mich.—The Detroit Pistons didn’t get a lot of headlines when they signed Jarvis Hayes this summer.
It might turn out to be more important than people realized.
Hayes had 24 points Sunday in Detroit’s 109-106 preseason victory over the Denver Nuggets, and has averaged 20 points in the Pistons’ past two games.
“I’ve felt like I fit in here since the first day of camp,” said Hayes, who averaged a career-low 7.2 points for Washington last season. “I can’t stop smiling.”
Sunday was Hayes’ first chance to play extended minutes with Detroit’s starters, and he made the most of it. Playing power forward instead of his usual small-forward spot, he had 16 points in the second quarter.
“When you have Chauncey Billups, Richard Hamilton and Tayshaun Prince on the perimeter, a lot of things are going to open up for you,” Hayes said. “I’ll have to get used to playing power forward, but I can do it.”
Hayes hit four of six 3-point attempts and was 8-for-8 from the free-throw line.
“He’s a shooter, and you can never have enough shooters,” Billups said. “He’s going to be big for us.”
Hayes has played 65 minutes in Detroit’s past two games, leading the team both times.
“He’s done a nice job,” Pistons coach Flip Saunders said. “He’s shot the ball well, he’s made some plays and hit free throws.”
The Nuggets were missing most of their top players, including Carmelo Anthony, Allen Iverson, Kenyon Martin and Nene.
“We played pretty well, considering we didn’t have our go-to guys,” Denver coach George Karl said. “We couldn’t make a shot for the first 15-20 minutes, but we kept our energy and played well defensively.”
Detroit had its full lineup, but guard Richard Hamilton left the game midway through the third quarter after spraining his left ankle while going for a rebound. The injury is not considered serious, but Hamilton is expected to sit out Detroit’s Wednesday game against Denver. Billups added 16 points and Jason Maxiell had 16 points and 11 rebounds for the Pistons.
Michigan native Anthony Roberson led the Nuggets with 20 points, while Bobby Jones scored 17 and Von Wafer added 16. Marcus Camby was the only Denver starter to reach double figures, finishing with 10 points and 16 rebounds.
“I thought Bobby Jones had his best game,” Karl said. “We didn’t make threes and we made bad decisions at times, but Bobby did a great job keeping us in the game.”
Detroit led by as many as 13 in the first half and had a 63-54 halftime advantage. Prince had 17 of his 19 in the first half.
“I thought we played well early tonight,” Saunders said. “Our starters accomplished what they needed to accomplish.”
Denver rallied in the third quarter, tying the game at 74 on Camby’s fast-break dunk with 3 minutes left. The game was deadlocked at 79 going into the fourth and stayed close throughout the period. Roberson’s jumper pulled Denver within 105-104 with 27.6 seconds left.
Maxiell made it 107-104 with two free throws, and Roberson missed a tying 3-pointer before rookie Rodney Stuckey clinched the game from the line.
