The Denver Nuggets fell to the Detroit Pistons on Tuesday, 109-107. 

The Nuggets are still short-handed with Nikola Jokic, Aaron Gordon, Christian Braun, and Cameron Johnson all out. Those four, alongside Jamal Murray, were the starting five for Denver on opening night. 

Murray did play, scoring 24 points, dishing out ten assists, and grabbing five rebounds.

The Nuggets got off to a slow start, trailing 31-18 after the first quarter. They would slowly rally back as the game wore on, but ultimately fell short in their comeback.

Speaking to the media after the game, Nuggets head coach David Adelman broke down the contest.  

"The turnovers in the first half and then the total, 20 points off those mistakes. In the second half, I thought we fought on the rebound as good as we’ve done in a long time. We ended up winning the rebound battle and tying them in second-chance points, which no one does against that team," said Adelman. 

The Nuggets won the rebounding battle 49-41, grabbing 13 offensive rebounds. Jonas Valanciunas had 16 total rebounds, seven on the offensive glass. 

The Pistons are sixth in the league in rebounding, grabbing 45.9 per game. They have the second-best offensive rebounding percentage in the league at 35.9% and are third in total rebounding percentage at 52.4%. 

The Nuggets' ability to end possessions and extend their own offensive possessions allowed them to remain in the game. 

Adelman said that the Pistons lived in the paint, which was evident by Detroit scoring 64 points in the paint compared to 48 for the Nuggets. 

He said that the Pistons found a lot of easy points as they got behind the defense, as Cade Cunningham probed and led the offense. 

"I thought our physicality was better in the second half, which led to the 35 points in the fourth quarter. We gave ourselves a chance to win the game," said Adelman.

The Nuggets outscored the Pistons 35-27 in the fourth quarter, led by Jamal Murray, who had 12 points. Tim Hardway Jr contributed nine of his 14 points in the fourth quarter. 

Adelman mentioned that the Pistons like to shrink the floor, which is going to leave open opportunities from three. 

Denver shot 10-29 from three, a 34% clip. A good number, but well below their 39% clip that they've been shooting on the season, which is tops in the league. 

The Pistons shot only 19% from three, going 6-31. 

Jamal Murray had a rare off-night from deep, going 0-6. Peyton Watson, who is shooting 41% from three on the year, went just 1-6.

Though the Nuggets were only one three-pointer away from winning, it's tough to survive when your best two players combine to go 1-12 from three.