Vigilance became more vulnerable to vanish once the losing streak did. At least, that’s what worried Nuggets coach Michael Malone.
The most daunting aspect of facing the reeling Detroit Pistons, he determined before tip-off Sunday night, was “human nature.”
“You look at their record,” Malone said, “and they’ve won three games.”
But the level of national attention on that win-loss total has dissipated since Dec. 30, when the Pistons finally snapped a record-tying 28-game losing streak. The motivational healthy fear of being the team to end the streak, to lose the un-losable, is no longer looming over Detroit’s opponents.
Human nature threatened the Nuggets briefly, but the defending champions avoided the consequences with a 131-114 win over the Pistons at Ball Arena. Malone made a point to inform his players pregame that seven of Detroit’s last nine contests have been decided by single digits, and the Nuggets responded by improving their record against sub-.500 teams this season to 18-0.
“It felt like a two-point game at the half,” Jamal Murray said. “I don’t know what it was, but that’s what it felt like. We just knew that we could hold ourselves to a higher standard and take care of business at home and try to get that No. 1 seed (in the Western Conference).”
The Nuggets are half a game back of Minnesota for that No. 1 seed after the win. Murray bounced back from a shaky performance against Orlando by scoring a season-high 37 points, including 24 in the first half. He shot 14 of 24 from the field with five rebounds, four assists and only one turnover, two days after Jalen Suggs matched up ruthlessly against him and a dramatic loss ended with Murray’s buzzer beater attempt rimming out.
Nikola Jokic didn’t take his first shot for more than 18 minutes of game time. He was busy piling up the first of his 16 assists and five blocks. He ultimately scored a season-low four points, matching his total from 16 abbreviated minutes in Chicago last month. That game ended with him getting ejected.
He also got tossed when the Nuggets visited Detroit in November, leading to a suspenseful second half that Denver narrowly escaped during the heart of the Pistons’ losing streak. In this rematch, Jokic was assessed another technical foul late in the third quarter and picked up his fourth foul moments later to send him to the bench with Ball Arena booing.
The temperature was still rising at that point. Peyton Watson scored his first 13 points in the last 6:08 of a third quarter in which the Nuggets (26-12) erupted for 43 to put the game out of reach. Nine of those 13 came in the last 2:22 of the frame, after Watson became heated and had to be held back. Ausar Thompson had sent him sprawling to the baseline with a blind-side shoulder bump in transition, earning Thompson a flagrant foul after replay review. The Denver fast break that caused the commotion, notably, had started when Watson emphatically blocked Kevin Knox at the rim.
“Things just happen so fast in this league,” Watson said. “I had no idea who had even pushed me. Actually, took my anger out on Alec Burks, so I apologize for that. But yeah, heat of the moment thing. Got up a little heated. But it was the energy I needed. I think I fed off of it. I came to play in that third quarter and beginning of fourth. It definitely knocked some energy into me.”
More importantly to Malone than their 43 points, the Nuggets finally didn’t let the Pistons keep up in the third quarter. Bad defense coming out of halftime was the theme of a back-to-back split going into this past weekend. With a day of rest, Denver found itself trailing late in the first half before going on a 12-3 run into the break. It was 65-57, with the Pistons shooting 46.7% from three and assisting 16 of their 23 made baskets (with just four turnovers). Then the Nuggets poured it on.
“I gave our players some credit for understanding the message after the Golden State third quarter and Orlando third quarter, and they responded tonight,” Malone said.
DeAndre Jordan played backup center and finished with nine points and seven rebounds, as Murray staggered with the second unit. For Detroit, star Cade Cunningham was ruled out in the first half with a left knee strain.
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