Nikola Jokic scored 34 points, including four free throws in the final seconds, and the Denver Nuggets held on well to smack the Detroit Pistons 117-111 on Sunday night.
Jokic also recorded nine rebounds and eight assists and missed only a fifth consecutive triple-double. Will Barton scored 14 points and Aaron Gordon added 13 points for the Nuggets, who bent 4-2 on a six-game sequence.
Isaiah Stewart, Cade Cunningham, Cory Joseph and Trey Lyles each scored 18 points for the Pistons, who lost four of the five points. “Detroit played hard and they gave us a challenge, but we brought it out,” said Austin Rivers, who finished with 11 points. “They have young talented players. They are trying to improve. You can’t go there and sleep on a bunch of professionals. They play loose. They play for free and they are peril. Give them credit.”
After a 3-pointer by Cunningham put Detroit up 75-73 with 3:57 left in the third quarter, Davon Reed and Facundo Campazzo hit consecutive 3’s to start a 17-3 run that allowed the Nuggets to take a 92-76 lead in the fourth quarter.
Again the pistons gathered. Lyles converted three-point plays in a row and Detroit brought the mark to 94-90 midway through the quarter. The game remained tight in the final minutes, and Joseph’s jump with 1:45 to make leveled the score to 109 – all.
Jokic made two free throws with 40.3 seconds left to give the Nuggets a two-point lead. After a Detroit turnaround, Jokic was broke on a drive-in basket with 17.7 seconds to play and converted two more free throws.
An rude foul on Joseph led to another turnaround with 8.8 seconds to make and the Pistons cheated Monte Morris, who performed both free throws for the final margin. Detroit coach Dwane Casey lamented the after goals that took the ball out of the Pistons’ hands without setting a shot.
“We have to value the ball, and right now we don’t value the ball,” he said. “These add up. We have to take every game as if it was the last game of the game. Until we grow up and do that, we will be very sad this year.”
The Pistons were trailing by 10 at the end of the second quarter, but they gradually reduced the deficit and put it at 60, all at the break on Cunningham’s jumper that hit the buzzer of halftime.
THE BEGINNINGS OF DEMARCUS
DeMarcus Cousins, who signed a 10-day contract on Friday, made his debut with the Nuggets and played 11:49 with Jokic. He scored two points and grabbed six rebounds. . “I didn’t have the best performance in shooting, but I managed a couple of games and the ultimate thing is that we have to win,” said Cousins, who was 1 of 7 on the floor. “I’m just trying to get out and act in every possible way.”
USEFUL TIPS
Pistons: f Kelly Olynyk was again cleared out of the way and entered the league’s health and safety protocols on Saturday. He played impressively in two games last week after returning from a knee wounds that had kept him out for two months.
Nuggets: f Jeff Green was taken out of the game because of a bruise on his left quadriceps. JaM F JaMychal Green remains sidelined due to the league’s health and safety protocols. … G Bones Hyland did not play because of a NON-COVID illness.
