The Detroit Pistons (19-41) couldn’t get it done tonight on the road, losing to the Denver Nuggets (40-18) 115-98. The Pistons are in full rebuild mode, as this game marks the Pistons seventh straight loss. Meanwhile, the Nuggets came into this one winning five of their last seven games. The Pistons went into halftime trailing 59-46 and were never able to recover the lead they had in the first quarter when they were up 23-21 with 3:12 left to end the first quarter. The Pistons made an attempt at a comeback when they had a rally to cut the Nuggets lead to six, trailing 65-59 in the third quarter, but it wasn’t enough to stop the Nuggets from taking control to end the game.
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Luke Kennard (knee) did not suit up tonight, but according to Rod Beard of the Detroit News, Kennard could be available after the Pistons come back from their west coast road trip.
#Pistons Dwane Casey says Luke Kennard could be back in the lineup after this western road trip. DET has home games 3/4 (Thunder) or 3/7 (Jazz).
— Rod Beard (@detnewsRodBeard) February 25, 2020
Bruce Brown Jr. is also battling a knee injury and did not play in tonight’s game. Brown was listed as questionable heading into tonight’s game against the Nuggets, so there’s a chance he may be ready to play in the Piston’s next game against the Phoenix Suns this Friday.
Christian Wood rejoined the starting lineup in tonight’s defeat, scoring 20 points while pulling down 10 rebounds and adding two blocks on the defensive end. Even coming off the bench, Wood was giving the Pistons solid production. In his last two games coming off the Bench, Wood averaged 22 points and 10 rebounds per game.
Derrick Rose finished tonight’s game with 20 points and five assists. Unlike former Pistons Reggie Jackson (buyout) and Markieff Morris (buyout), Rose is expected to remain a Piston for the rest of the season.
The Nuggets were led by Jerami Grant. Grant paced the team with a game-high 29 points to go along with five rebounds. Nuggets All-Star Nikola Jokic finished tonight’s game with 16 points, five rebounds, four assists, and four steals.
The Pistons have the next two days off before returning to action against the Phoenix Suns this Friday at 9 PM.
