Halftime Report
Down two at the end of the first quarter, the Nuggets now have the lead. They have jumped out to a 67-61 lead against the Pistons.
If the Nuggets keep playing like this, they’ll bump their record up to 17-13 in no time. On the other hand, the Pistons will have to make due with a 14-18 record unless they turn things around (and fast).
Who’s Playing
Detroit Pistons @ Denver Nuggets
Current Records: Detroit 14-17, Denver 16-13
How To Watch
- When: Saturday, December 28, 2024 at 9 p.m. ET
- Where: Ball Arena — Denver, Colorado
- TV: Altitude Sports & Entertainmnt
- Follow: CBS Sports App
- Online streaming: fuboTV (Try for free. Regional restrictions may apply.)
- Ticket Cost: $43.05
What to Know
The Nuggets are 8-2 against the Pistons since February of 2020, and they’ll have a chance to extend that success on Saturday. Having just played yesterday, the Denver Nuggets will get right back to it and host the Detroit Pistons at 9:00 p.m. ET at Ball Arena. The Nuggets are strutting in with some offensive muscle as they’ve averaged 119.6 points per game this season.
The Nuggets’ offense and defense might be a bit winded after their high-scoring matchup with the Cavaliers on Friday. The Nuggets took a 149-135 bruising from the Cavaliers. Denver has now taken an ‘L’ in back-to-back games.
The Nuggets might have lost, but man, Nikola Jokic was a machine: he dropped a triple-double on 27 points, 14 rebounds, and 13 assists. The game was Jokic’s fifth in a row with at least 30 points. The team also got some help courtesy of Jamal Murray, who dropped a double-double on 27 points and 11 assists.
Meanwhile, the Pistons had already won two in a row and they went ahead and made it three on Thursday. They skirted by Sacramento 114-113 thanks to a clutch free throw from Jaden Ivey with 3 seconds left in the fourth quarter. The win was all the more spectacular given Detroit was down by 19 with 10:12 left in the third quarter.
Among those leading the charge was Cade Cunningham, who dropped a double-double on 33 points and ten assists. The Pistons are 5-2 when Cunningham posts 20 or more points, but 9-15 otherwise.
Denver’s defeat ended a three-game streak of wins at home and dropped them to 16-13. As for Detroit, their victory was their third straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 14-17.
Looking forward, the Nuggets are the favorite in this one, as the experts expect to see them win by 5.5 points. Against the spread, they have been a house darling this year with a chancy 11-17 ATS record.
The Nuggets strolled past the Pistons in their previous meeting back in January by a score of 131-114. Do the Nuggets have another victory up their sleeve, or will the Pistons turn the tables on them? We’ll have the answer soon enough.
Odds
Denver is a solid 5.5-point favorite against Detroit, according to the latest NBA odds.
The oddsmakers were right in line with the betting community on this one, as the game opened as a 5.5-point spread, and stayed right there.
The over/under is 231 points.
See NBA picks for every single game, including this one, from SportsLine’s advanced computer model. Get picks now.
Series History
Denver has won 8 out of their last 10 games against Detroit.
- Jan 07, 2024 – Denver 131 vs. Detroit 114
- Nov 20, 2023 – Denver 107 vs. Detroit 103
- Mar 16, 2023 – Denver 119 vs. Detroit 100
- Nov 22, 2022 – Detroit 110 vs. Denver 108
- Jan 25, 2022 – Denver 110 vs. Detroit 105
- Jan 23, 2022 – Denver 117 vs. Detroit 111
- May 14, 2021 – Denver 104 vs. Detroit 91
- Apr 06, 2021 – Denver 134 vs. Detroit 119
- Feb 25, 2020 – Denver 115 vs. Detroit 98
- Feb 02, 2020 – Detroit 128 vs. Denver 123
