Pistons attempt to continue strong home play against Nuggets

The home version of the Detroit Pistons has been unbeatable in the early going. The road version has been awful.

Unfortunately for the Denver Nuggets, they face the Pistons at The Palace on Saturday.

Detroit has won its three home games by an average of 14.7 points. The Pistons are 0-2 on the road, including a 109-101 loss to the lowly-regarded Brooklyn Nets on Wednesday.

The Nets racked up 71 first-half points and held off the Pistons' late charge.

"They outplayed us for 48 minutes in every aspect of the game," Detroit coach Stan Van Gundy said. "Every game is a new game and we brought nothing to the table defensively and we couldn't guard anybody, so of course it's disappointing."

Not surprisingly, the Pistons tend to play a lot better when their All-Star center makes a big impact. Andre Drummond averaged 13.7 points and 18.7 rebounds in the home victories. He had just six points and six rebounds in 25 minutes at Brooklyn before Van Gundy benched him most of the second half.

"We gave him the first half and the first seven minutes in the second half and he was just, in my opinion, bringing absolutely nothing to the game," Van Gundy said. "I don't know if he was tired or what the deal was, but he didn't bring any energy to the game."

Denver got off to a lethargic start in its last game and trailed Minnesota by 12 after the first quarter. The Nuggets (2-2) took the lead by outscoring the Timberwolves 33-14 in the third quarter, then hung on for a 102-99 victory on Thursday.

That makes the Nuggets 1-1 on their current five-game road trip but coach Michael Malone was not impressed.

"We need everybody ready to play, starting in Detroit," Malone told the Denver Post. "Spotting teams the leads we're spotting them -- 15 points, 19 points in Toronto -- we're always playing uphill, we're always playing catch-up and that's not a good way to play."

The reserves bailed out the Nuggets by outscoring the Timberwolves bench 45-23.

"We just lucked up and got the win, but we've got to learn how to play for 48 minutes," second-year point guard Emmanuel Mudiay said to the Denver Post. "That's the main thing. It seems like the third quarter is the biggest quarter where we come out and jump on teams. We've got to figure out how to play like that for the whole game."

The Nuggets' backcourt has been thinned by injuries. Gary Harris sat out Thursday's game with a strained right groin while swingman Will Barton has a sprained left ankle. They're questionable to play against the Pistons.

Detroit is trying to survive the first few weeks of the season without starting point guard Reggie Jackson, who is recovering from knee tendinitis.

The Nuggets swept the two-game series last season, winning 104-101 at home and 103-92 at The Palace.