AUBURN HILLS, Mich. – In the NBA, lineups are categorized like shirts. Big. Small. Extra small. The Nuggets play big, in size, to start games. They needed to play big, in physicality, on Saturday night.
It didn’t start out that way.
But it did for the Pistons, who fought every screen, bumped every cutter, doubled the ball in the post and short corner, kept hands on the ball-handlers and physically contested nearly every shot. It was the driving force behind a big, early lead that two hours later ended up a 103-86 Pistons victory at the Palace of Auburn Hills and sent Nuggets coach Michael Malone searching for a new starting lineup.
“We were flat everywhere … they did whatever they wanted,” Malone said. “Fifth game in a row that our starting group came out asleep. So we’re not going to have the same starting lineup out there (Sunday) night. We can’t afford to keep on building ourselves 15-, 20-point deficits to start the game and play catch-up. That group is unable to change that so we’ll mix up the lineup to give ourselves a better chance at playing for 48 minutes, because I’m tired of watching that.”
The formula that had gotten the Nuggets back into games earlier – a big comeback in the middle quarters – did not happen Saturday. The Pistons not only played physically, really getting into the Nuggets defensively, they received good scoring efforts from players that are inconsistent in that area.
So, while Andre Drummond’s 19 points and 20 rebounds were not an uncommon sight for one of the NBA’s most dominating post players, Jon Leuer’s 15 points were. It was nearly double the output he puts out on a typical night – he averaged 8.2 coming into the contest – and were some of the points Detroit needed to keep themselves in front during the stretches that the Nuggets were making some inroads.
The Nuggets were down 18 right away before chopping the lead down to seven at halftime. The Pistons regrouped and pushed that lead back to 10 at the end of the third quarter. Shots kept falling for the Pistons in the fourth. They pushed the lead to as many as 25 before settling into the final score.
“I think we spent so much energy trying to make that comeback in the second half, when they made a run we had no energy to sustain it,” said Wilson Chandler, who gave the Nuggets another high-scoring effort off the bench, finishing with 21 points, along with nine rebounds.
Six Pistons scored in double figures, and the starters did the bulk of the damage, accounting for 67 points. The Nuggets starters didn’t fare as well with 47 combined points. The Nuggets scored just 12 points in the first quarter, starting 5-for-27 from the field.
Figuring it all out, point guard Emmanuel Mudiay said will be a collaboration.
“Some of it is the players and some of it, I feel like, is the coaches as well,” he said. “We got to figure it out all around. They jumped out on the starting group, but at the same time we were following the game plan as well. We players have to take care of the ball, that’s one, but we have to be put in good situations to make things happen. It’s a mixture of both.”
The Nuggets closed the game with three rookies on the court, and got the regulars off in anticipation of Sunday nightap game at Boston, the second of a back-to-back for the team, which sees the frequency of games pick way up over the next several days.
Danilo Gallinari added 16 points, and Jusuf Nurkic had a double-double of 10 points and 12 rebounds.
DENVER AT BOSTON, 5:30 p.m. Sunday, ALT2, 950 AM
Spotlight on Al Horford: Slowly but surely the Celtics are upgrading to star-level talent on their roster, and Horford was a big addition this past offseason. He signed a four-year, $113 million contract in the summer and is still figuring things out chemistry-wise with his new teammates. Starting in all three games, Horford is averaging 12.0 points, 5.3 rebounds and 4.7 assists.
