After a blowout 23-point win over the Sacramento Kings two days ago, the Detroit Pistons have a bit of wind under their sails heading into tonight’s game against the Denver Nuggets. At 33-11 overall, the Pistons have a 14-6 record on the road this season, and tonight’s matchup will mark their first game away from Little Caesars Arena in three contests. 

Fortunately, Pistons point guard Cade Cunningham looked like his usual All-Star self in Detroit’s big victory over the Kings with 29 points and 11 assists in a much more efficient shooting night, which was a concern given his wrist injury. But with Cade back at full strength, the Pistons looked like a complete squad once again and will carry that momentum into tonight’s 9 pm tip-off.

Over the last several weeks, the Nuggets have had some of the worst injury luck in the NBA, but despite those health woes Denver has held it together, relatively speaking, for a 3-2 record over their last five games without Nikola Jokic. 

The Nuggets’ most recent game was slated to be a contest against the Memphis Grizzlies, but that had to be postponed due to weather. So, the last time Denver took the court was for a 102-100 win over the Milwaukee Bucks, which was quite an accomplishment with such a shorthanded Nuggets team. 

In the victory, Nuggets guard Julian Strawther led the way with 20 points on 6-for-13 from the field since Jamal Murray was out with an injury, thrusting the third-year role player into the spotlight.

For the Pistons, guard Caris LeVert is still not fully recovered from his illness, so the veteran guard will be unable to provide support off the bench tonight against the Nuggets. Apart from that, Detroit only has a few players assigned to G-League duty, so the squad is relatively healthy overall. 

The Nuggets, however, are a vastly different story. Nikola Jokic remains absent for tonight’s game along with Aaron Gordon, Christian Braun and Cam Johnson, all of which are key players for Denver. The Nuggets may welcome Jonas Valanciunas (calf) os probable to suit up, as is Jamal Murray (hamstring / hip) as both are working through minor injuries. 

Somehow, the Nuggets (31-15) have been able to hold it together despite the rash of injuries, but the Pistons are a skilled unit in terms of  maximizing the margins and finding areas to exploit. Tonight, Detroit may opt to push the pace since the Pistons have much more depth to work with. 

Since Detroit will have a deeper bench at their disposal tonight, it is a prudent time to review a statement from Pistons head coach J.B. Bickerstaff from the team’s 23-point victory over the Sacramento Kings on Sunday afternoon. 

“I think they played well all night,” Bickerstaff said. “They picked up the tempo, got out in transition, but they were generating stops also. And from that group, everybody that was there contributed. So, they've been that for us all year long, and nothing changed tonight.”

With the bench playing an important role later tonight against the Nuggets, it is clear that Bickerstaff has the utmost confidence in his guys. 

In many ways, Jamal Murry is the last man standing for the Nuggets in this cross-conference matchup. With the rest of the Denver starting lineup out due to various injuries, Murray will be expected to shoulder the offensive load for the Nuggets at home tonight. 

Now, Murray is no stranger to a high-volume shot diet, and the veteran guard ranks 13th in the NBA in scoring this season with 26 points per night, so the Pistons will need to lock in to contain his influence tonight. Murray himself is just returning from injury as well, but the Nuggets have no other choice but to rely on the rhythm shooting guard. 

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