Pistons at Nuggets
THE STORY: The Denver Nuggets will be without forward Danilo Gallinari when they complete a nine-game homestand against the Detroit Pistons. Gallinari fractured his left thumb in Monday’s loss to the Dallas Mavericks and could be sidelined a few weeks. The timing hurts in that Gallinari recently returned from an ankle injury. Detroit is in the midst of a tough stretch in which nine of 10 games are on the road. The Pistons are 1-3 through the first four contests.
TV: 9 p.m. ET, Fox Sports Detroit, Altitude (Denver)
ABOUT THE PISTONS (16-29): Detroit hasn’t played since Sunday and that gave hot-scoring guard Rodney Stuckey time to recover from the left big toe ailment that sabotaged his performance in the loss to the Los Angeles Clippers. Stuckey injured the toe in Friday’s game against the Phoenix Suns and had just seven points on 1-for-8 shooting against Los Angeles. He had averaged 25.1 points over the previous eight outings. The Pistons are a much better offensive team when Stuckey is thriving and able to use his driving ability to score or make trips to the free-throw line.
ABOUT THE NUGGETS (25-21): Gallinari lead the Nuggets in scoring at 15.2 points per game and wasn’t the only player hurt against the Mavericks. Veteran point guard Andre Miller left with a shoulder injury and is also expected to miss the Detroit game. Denver does expect to have center JaVale McGee in the lineup for the first time since acquiring him from the Washington Wizards last week. Forward Wilson Chandler also is back with the team and scored 13 points in 28 minutes against Dallas in his first outing.
BUZZER BEATERS:
1. Detroit is 16-5 in its past 21 meetings with the Nuggets.
2. Pistons center Greg Monroe had 23 points and 15 rebounds against the Clippers for his seventh double-double in 13 games.
3. Denver is 6-14 this season when held below 100 points.