Pistons at Nuggets
The Denver Nuggets are fighting for the top seed in the Western Conference and look to rebound from a porous performance when they host the Detroit Pistons on Tuesday. Denver was badly outplayed while dropping a 124-88 road decision against the Indians Pacers on Sunday to fall a half-game behind the first-place Golden State Warriors.
The Nuggets had won six straight games, including the first three of a four-game road trip, before the disappointing showing against Indiana. "I got the sense that we felt that we won six games in a row, 3-0 on this road trip, and that we could just show up and play and be OK," Denver coach Michael Malone told reporters afterward. "It was an embarrassing effort by all of us. We've been winning games, playing well in stretches. And (Sunday) was just inconsistent basketball." The Pistons are battling the Brooklyn Nets for the sixth seed in the Eastern Conference with the Miami Heat and Orlando Magic in close pursuit. Detroit, which is 1-3 on a five-game road trip after losing 121-114 to the Warriors on Sunday, has lost eight of its last nine visits to Denver.
TV: 9 p.m. ET, FS Detroit, Altitude (Denver)
ABOUT THE PISTONS (37-36): Detroit lost to another top Western Conference squad in the Portland Trail Blazers -- 117-112 -- on Saturday and point guard Ish Smith was insisting there is no reason to panic after Sunday's setback. "We can look back and kick ourselves because we could have won those games," Smith told reporters. "We just kept fighting and battling. We knew they were going to come out hard because of (Saturday) night's loss. I thought we competed but you don't get moral victories, you have to come out with wins." After the contest against the Nuggets, the Pistons play five of their final eight games at home.
ABOUT THE NUGGETS (49-23): Denver shot just 35.5 percent from the field against the Pacers with point guard Jamal Murray (2-of-12 shooting, four points), power forward Paul Millsap (2-of-8, six points) and backup shooting guard Malik Beasley (1-of-6, four points) being among the players who struggled. Center Nikola Jokic fell two assists shy of a triple-double as part of an effort that included 19 points, 11 rebounds and four blocked shots. Jokic is averaging 20 points and 14 rebounds over the past two games and scored in double digits in each of his last 39 appearances.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. C Andre Drummond had 27 points on 12-of-14 shooting and collected 12 rebounds as the Pistons registered a 129-103 home win over the Nuggets on Feb. 4.
2. Denver SG Gary Harris is 10-of-14 shooting over the past two games.
3. Detroit SG Luke Kennard scored 20 points against Golden State and is averaging 16.3 over the past three contests.