DETROIT — Just last week, the Detroit Pistons narrowly survived a comeback attempt from the Denver Nuggets, who were playing without star center Nikola Jokic due to a knee injury.
On Tuesday, the Nuggets were in Detroit for the return game, with Jokic ready to go. And just like their matchup in Denver, the Pistons had to stave off a late run from one of the top teams in the Western Conference.
Detroit held the No. 2 shooting team in the NBA to 45% shooting, well below their season average, while Cade Cunningham paced the Pistons with 29 points and 10 assists to a 124-121 win at Little Caesars Arena.
The Pistons (37-12) never trailed en route to their third straight win, doing so without guard Jaden Ivey, who has reportedly been traded to the Chicago Bulls ahead of Thursday’s NBA trade deadline.
Jalen Duren added 19 points and 13 rebounds for his 24th double-double of the season while Duncan Robinson posted another 20 points to counter a 24-point, 15-rebound night from Jokic.
Robinson led Detroit’s flashy start as he scored eight points on 3-of-3 shooting, to start what would be a 6-for-9 finish from deep on the night.
Cunningham moved past an 0-of-3 start from the field to finish at the rim after a crafty drive past Denver’s Jamal Murray. The All-Star then locked into supplying for his teammates, assisting on four baskets in the quarter, including back-to-back alley-oops for Duren as the Pistons rushed ahead by 12.
Seven straight misses from three to start the game for the Nuggets (33-18) aided in the Pistons getting in front, but three consecutive makes — two coming from Murray as part of a 13-point quarter and 32-point performance — closed the gap back down to one.
After Daniss Jenkins made some space with a pair of late drives in the first quarter, the Pistons sparked behind Ron Holland, who banked in a three-pointer and continued applying pressure on Jokic.
Holland exploited him in transition, going coast-to-coast and driving past him for a lay-in. On the other end, Holland punished a loose dribble, swatting it from Jokic’s hand and setting up an easy finish on the other end for Cunningham.
Bruce Brown’s 10-point second quarter kept things from spiraling until Cunningham led a 10-0 run for Detroit in the final 94 seconds of the half to take a 69-50 lead into the break.
Cunningham’s late three-pointer finished off a 17-point, seven-assist half for Detroit’s star guard.
The third quarter started on a down note as Cunningham was quickly assessed three fouls, forcing him to sit out key parts of the second half on four for the game.
Duren scoring six points, primarily off trips to the foul line, helped the Pistons maintain their lead until late in the quarter. However, Jokic started to find his rhyhtm and scored 10 for the Nuggets, getting the lead down as low as 11.
The double-big lineup of Jokic and Jonas Valanciunas was causing problems for Detroit, but a line change sent Denver’s start to the bench and the Pistons made some key defensive plays to maintain a 13-point lead going into the fourth.
The Nuggets challenged the entire way and found their key run late, scoring nine straight points and pulling within two off a Murray corner three-pointer with two minutes to go.
Tobias Harris — who starred in last week’s matchup against Denver — found the response as his three pointer took a couple bounces off the rim before sinking.
Murray hit a late three and earned a trip to the foul line for three shots to continually apply late pressure, but the Pistons kept them at bay as they got the job done at the foul line to close out another tight victory.
BOX SCORE
Up next: The Pistons play the first game of a back-to-back on Thursday, hosting the Washington Wizards on trade deadline day.