The Denver Nuggets’ dominance continues for the second night in a row. Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr. looked like a full-fledged star trio, combining for 97 points en route to a victory over the Detroit Pistons. The Nuggets built a big lead in the third quarter before the Pistons’ bench unit mounted a fourth-quarter surge that failed. There still wasn’t much to say defensively, but Denver scores 134 points and that’s more than enough to get a win tonight.

Jokic opened the game with a three-pointer that gave Denver the lead. Denver had plenty to offer on offense, but the Pistons kept pace and didn’t give the Nuggets any breathing room. They distributed the ball around their starters and tied the game again midway through the quarter. The game began to slow down a bit and Denver continued to defend its two-point lead. The Nuggets missed some good performances from three players, giving Detroit the lead. Murray and Jokic remained consistent for the Nuggets, keeping them neck-and-neck with the Pistons down the stretch, while former Nugget Malik Beasley hit his shot. After Jokic sank another three-pointer and then completed a pocket pass from Murray, the game was tied again with a minute left. The Pistons got another basket and led 38-36 at the horn.

Put him in the three-point contest 🎯 pic.twitter.com/wvXUApUT56

— Denver Nuggets (@nuggets) December 29, 2024

Both teams struggled to score points early in the second quarter. Denver’s offense looked disjointed. They had Murray on the bench but didn’t want to give him any chances. However, they managed to score a few goals and that was enough to tie the game with about eight minutes left in the half. The Pistons strung together a few baskets, with Ausar Thompson crossing and then posting up Peyton Watson, prompting Michael Malone to call a timeout to get Jokic back into the game with a four Nuggets deficit. Denver tightened its defense and came back, relying again on Jokic and Murray. Porter came into the game in the final minutes and extended the Nuggets’ lead again. They went into the locker room with a score of 67-61.

He noticed this one: https://t.co/nRdDRsYZ8Q pic.twitter.com/cbycZiaV8v

— Denver Nuggets (@nuggets) December 29, 2024

Denver was a little sloppy early in the second half, but they still had their stars to keep them moving forward. They stayed ahead with a few turnovers, but still couldn’t put the game away. Porter Jr. was now the focal point of the offense and eventually began to extend the lead. It was double digits before things got a little choppy, at least for Russell Westbrook. He was upset about a charge call and responded by forcing Cade Cunningham into an offensive foul and then getting Isaiah Stewart to say something that resulted in a technical foul. Things got very sloppy on both sides in the second half of the quarter and there weren’t many field goals, but there were a lot of fouls. Ultimately, Denver got it together and went on an 8-0 run to secure a comfortable position. Murray finished the quarter strong and Denver took a 114-89 lead into the fourth quarter.

20 points after this corner three for Mike 🪣 pic.twitter.com/BuJi32McRz

— Denver Nuggets (@nuggets) December 29, 2024

Denver seemed to lack energy at the start of the fourth period. They settled for too many jumpers and only scored one point in the first two minutes. The Pistons were already playing on their deep bench and didn’t make much of the opportunity, but did start to chip away at the lead a bit, earning Malone a timeout to refocus the troops. It didn’t help much and a minute later he called again and Denver’s lead was down to 17. Detroit continued to play with energy and the Nuggets’ lead continued to shrink. Five minutes before the end there were only eleven left in the fourth half, although Jokic and most of the regular players were back. Porter seemed to be the one who had a big three-pointer just when the Nuggets needed him most, stopping the bleeding enough to make time a factor. The Pistons still didn’t want to go away. They hit consecutive threes to get within seven before Jokic calmed things down. Eventually, Detroit ran out of time and the Nuggets had enough time to win and breathing room. Final score: Denver 134, Detroit 121.

Saturday evening at the ball 📊

Nikola: 37 PTS / 9 REB / 8 AST
Jamal: 34 PTS / 5 REB / 4 AST
MPJ: 26 PTS / 5 3PM / 3 REB
CB: 10 PTS / 4 REB / 3 AST
Russ: 8 PTS / 9 REB / 8 AST pic.twitter.com/ZqyJucuU39

— Denver Nuggets (@nuggets) December 29, 2024

Give Jamal Murray his flowers

There was a lot of talk about Murray’s play early in the season. It seemed like almost everyone was ready to write him off, calling his contract the worst in franchise history and blaming him for the Nuggets’ impending demise. You’ll be shocked to find out that didn’t happen. Jamal has been every bit the star player Denver needs in December and has put in great performances over the last two weeks. Tonight he finished with 34 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 blocks. He still needs to get his legs under 100% control defensively, and considering he’s still listed on the injury report with a sprained ankle, it’s safe to assume he’s not quite 100%, but man , is he starting to look really good?

Denver is just a bad defensive team

The Nuggets’ defensive woes have been a consistent problem this season. Part of it is personnel. There is no dominant full-back in this squad, Peyton Watson and Christian Braun have yet to develop into top-notch full-backs, and Aaron Gordon is constantly hampered by a calf injury. However, much of it remains simply effort. There were periods tonight where the Nuggets found their focus and started to clamp down, particularly in the second and third quarters, but the start of the fourth quarter was a prime example of the opposite scenario. The Nuggets were clearly happy with their big lead, and Sleep went through half a quarter to almost squander it. Coach wasn’t too happy in his press interview after the game and pointed directly to the fourth point as the cause of his disappointment. He even went so far as to say that he might need to find another group of people to go out and make a consistent effort. They get the win, no doubt, but Denver needs to figure out how to get stops and there could be changes on the way.