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The Detroit Pistons will host the Denver Nuggets on Monday night, as the Nuggets look to keep the train rolling. Winners of six games in a row, the Nuggets have officially surpassed the Warriors for the best record in the Western Conference at 37-15.
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The Pistons are sitting just outside of the West in 9th place at 22-29 and have gone just 4-6 over their last 10 games. The Nuggets are a 4 point favorite in this game.
Nuggets All Star Head Coach
Mike Malone has done a great job with this Nuggets team and has really progressed the young talent on this team. The depth on this team is pretty incredible considering they have seven players averaging double digits. This team is led by the 23-year-old big man Nikola Jokic, and 21-year-old Jamal Murray. Murray is dealing with a sore ankle, but is averaging 18.5 ppg, 4.9 apg and 4.4 rpg. Jokic is similar to having a 6’10” Russell Westbrook down low. The former 2nd round pick is leading this team in scoring with 20.2 ppg, 7.7 apg and 10.5 rpg.
Pistons Have Nice Paint Presence
The Pistons are led by their two big men down in the paint, Andre Drummond and Blake Griffin. Drummond is averaging a double-double, 16.6 ppg and 14.9 rpg. Then they are getting one of Blake Griffin’s best seasons in his whole career, as he’s averaging 26.2 ppg, 5.3 apg and 8.2 rpg. Detroit has two serviceable starters in Reggie Jackson and Reggie Bullock, but have been seeking a legitimate starting shooting guard for quite some time. In the 2017 draft they chose Luke Kennard with the 12th overall pick, but has yet to make his mark in the league yet. Dwane Casey was surprisingly released by the Raptors as their head coach last season despite winning coach of the year. Detroit picked him up and given the current talent on this roster, Casey is doing a solid job.
The advantage for the Nuggets in this game has got to be their ability to shoot. Denver ranks 7th in the league with a 47.2 field goal %, while Detroit ranks 29th in shooting 43.3%. Then the Nuggets shoot a little better from three-point land at 35.7%, compared to the Pistons who shoot at a 33.3% rate. Missing Jamal Murray really hurts the Nuggets but it’s not like they don’t have the depth to provide good minutes. Monte Morris stepped up big in their last win against the Timberwolves, logging 41 minutes, 17 points, 7 rebounds and 10 assists. Barton tacked on 20 points and Jokic recorded a triple double.
Pick and Prediction
We’d expect the defensive game plan for the Pistons to be stopping Jokic from beating you. That’s never an easy task, as he affects the game in so many different ways. The ability of Jokic to kick it out to wing players when he’s double-teamed is what makes him such a well-rounded player. ESPN’s matchup predictor is giving the Nuggets a 62.6% chance to win Monday night. We’re going to side with them and take the Nuggets over the Pistons.
