Denver Nuggets rally to beat Detroit Pistons 101-94: NBA Recap
Denver Nuggets came to Detroit having lost 5 out of their previous 6 games but produced a better result in the Tuesday’s trip as they overcame a 17 point deficit to drop Detroit Pistons 101-94 at the Palace of Auburn Hills.
Ty Lawson led the visitors with 26 points and handed out 7 assists, Corey Brewer added 15 points while Andre Iguodala collected 12 points and grabbed 8 rebounds.
"We've had about four or five close games and didn't win," Lawson said. "We've lost a bunch of times when teams came back on us when we were up 17 or 18 points."
This time around they were on the other end of the scenario as they were trailing by 21-4 early in the first period and rallied their way back into the game.
Denver struggled at the start and this allowed the Pistons to race to 15-4 early in the first quarter. Nuggets coach called for a time out and made some substitutions.
"Our starters, they weren't trying to get good shots. They were kind of going through the motions," Denver coach George Karl said.
The Pistons were up 21-4 five minutes into the game when the Nuggets finally put brakes on their charge and the reserves connected their shots as Denver reduced the deficit down to 17-25 by the end of the period.
“The bench came in and gave us a big lift” said Lawson.
Corey Brewer made a layup early in the second period to pull the Nuggets to within 22-27 of the Pistons. The Nuggets started pacing and the Pistons could not keep up as the score was tied on 41 with 2:42 in the quarter, and a strong finish to the period had the Nuggets leading 48-42 at halftime after outscoring the Pistons 31-17 in the period.
The Nuggets kept up the good work in the second half and pushed their lead to 55-44 after two minutes of play. The maintained a sufficient distance between the Pistons and were leading 65-55 with 3:59 to go in the quarter. Detroit found some rhythm as they reduced the deficit down to four later in the period but Lawson beat the clock with a layup to put the Nuggets up 72-66.
Pistons came out strong early in the fourth period and rookie Kyle Singler made it a two point game on 74-76. The Nuggets again started to pull ahead slowly when a Charlie Villanueva shot from behind the arc cut the deficit down to 77-82. The Nuggets having led for most of the second half were not going to let go of their advantage that easily as they held off Pistons for a 101-94 win eventually.
Guard Brandon Knight posted 20 points and dished out 5 assists for the Pistons while Jason Maxiell scored 18 points and made a career high 6 blocks.
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