Denver played a really impressive game tonight against a very talented Detroit Piston team. The Nuggets defense behind Gary Harris was absolutely phenomenal, with Harris putting up five steals and Darrell Arthur putting up four. The Nuggets as a team had 15 steals and played swarming defense that hindered Andre Drummond and with small ball lineups.
It legitimately looked like Nikola Jokic got in Drummond’s head. At one point Jokic made a play that looked exactly like Dirk Nowitzki in 2006.
I never thought I’d actually write that sentence.
The Pistons really did look to get flustered when a couple of the plays didn’t go their way. Marcus Morris getting a technical in the last second of the game and Drummond looked rather perturbed when Stan Van Gundy benched him. The Pistons are a very good team and could challenge some teams in the playoffs if they actually focus and keep level heads.
The Nuggets looked really good and most importantly, the young guys played really well together. Jokic, Harris and Emmanuel Mudiay really looked to build some chemistry and with should-be-All-Star Danilo Gallinari having another great offensive game, the Nuggets were very fun to watch.
The Nuggets would have won by even more, but the bench was absolutely atrocious.
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Will Barton continued to struggle and finished the game as a negative 22. Also, Joffrey Lauvergne was lackluster in the limited minutes that he played.
The bench has got to play better for the Nuggets to continue to develop since young players are going to struggle at times. The veterans on the bench cannot play like that if they want to see continued success.
But this is a time to rejoice! The Nuggets defeated a very good team and looked like a team that can grow into a potential contender for years to come.