Game Time: 8:00 PM ET, Sunday, January 23rd, 2022 

Venue:  Ball Arena, Denver, Colorado

Where to Watch:  NBA League Pass

DraftKings:  Spread: NL

BetMGM:  Spread:  NL

VegasInsider:  Spread: Denver -11; O/U 217

WynnBet: Spread:  Denver -11.5; O/U 215.5

Pistons: 11-34, 14th place Eastern Conference

Nuggets: 23-21, 6th place Western Conference

An NBA matchup between a Western Conference team with a former MVP who is once again an MVP candidate against an Eastern Conference team that is so terrible most of its starters wouldn’t be starters on most other teams.  The Nuggets will contend deep into the NBA playoffs this season.  The Detroit Pistons are still several seasons away from the playoffs if they ever get there again.

The Detroit Pistons are shockingly bad.  This last NBA draft they had the honor of winning the NBA draft Lottery and selecting first.  They picked 6’6 point guard Cade Cunningham.  Cunningham looks the part… big, skilled enough to play at several positions on the floor, good passer, competent scorer.  However Cade is not head and shoulders above a few of the players selected later in his same draft… At 15, 5, 5 he is good.  Of course PF Evan Mobley on the Cavaliers and SF Scottie Barnes on the Toronto Raptors seem to be having better rookie years.  In true Pistons form they drafted #1 overall in a year that didn’t have a LeBron or Tim Duncan waiting at that spot.  Still Cade is a keeper to build the team around… only Cade seems to be the only piece in place.  Pistons leading scorer SF Jerami Grant was rejected in a package for disgruntled Philadelphia 76ers Ben Simmons. PF Isaiah Stewart is leading the team in rebounds  while playing out of position at Center. He is very young and seems offensively challenged. PG Cory Joseph is a ten year vet and seems to be on his last legs in the NBA, PF Trey Lyles is a 7 year vet who sort of never popped… and maybe the biggest problem is none of these players will earn quality players or picks back in trade… so the Pistons will have to make do.  The Pistons have won 4 of their last ten games… a stretch of winning that accomplished jumping the Orlando Magic in the standings.  They have gone from WORST to ALMOST THE worst.  

The Denver Nuggets are a good team in a rough patch of the season.  They have won five of their last ten games.. A bumpy stretch that caused them to drop from 4th place in the West to sixth.  The problem in Denver is that SG Jamal Muray and PF Micheal Porter JR are out with injuries.  Both required surgery and both will most likely miss the entire NBA season.  It’s a lost year in Denver.  It’s also only a matter of time before a frustrated GREAT player Center Nikola Jokic asks for a trade.  How long can a truly great player watch others gather all the championships during his prime?  He has the MVP award… he has the Max Contract… and he is saddled with a well intentioned team that tried their very best to give him a quality roster to play with… it just didn’t work out.  Without a complete overhaul the Nuggets will be stuck in neutral… or they need to get very lucky at the back end of the draft.  Still, the Nuggets have enough quality players left to easily smash the Pistons.  

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The Pistons are 11-34 on the season, but 22-23 ATS.  They have logged 22 Overs, 22 Unders, and 1 Push.  They are 4-20 in road games.

The Nuggets are 23-21 on the season, but 18-26 ATS.  They have notched 24 Overs and 20 Unders.  They are 12-9 in home games.

The Pistons are 29th in scoring with 101.8 ppg, 28th in rebounds with 42.7 per game, and 29th in AST/TO ratio with 1.5.  They are shooting 29th in FG%, 29th in 3PT% and 13th in FT%.  The defense is slightly better but still below average at 24th while allowing 111.5 ppg from opponents.  So when you see double digit spreads remember that on average they give up 10 points more than they score… on average.

The Nuggets are 19th in scoring with 107.7 ppg, 26th in rebounds with 43.2 per game, and 3rd in AST/TO ratio.  They are shooting 6th in FG%, 19th in 3PT%, and 17th in FT%.  In defense they are ranked 11th while giving up 106.8 ppg.

 

Our prediction for Sunday, January 23rd is…. Denver 118 - Pistons 99

The Pistons have ZERO quality big men… Every Piston big man is either too young and inexperienced or simply not good enough to stop Nikola Jokic.  It’s that simple.  Also then the second best player on the floor will be Nuggets SF Aaron Gordon.  So even with the Nuggets injury absences… they still have the better players.

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Denver is 2-0 ATS versus Detroit at Denver over the last 3 seasons.

Denver is 3-1 ATS versus Detroit over the last 3 seasons.

3 of 4 games in this series have gone Over the total.

Pistons: PG Killian Hayes (hip) Quest ** SF Jerami Grant (thumb) Out ** C Luka Garza (ill) Out ** PF Isaiah Livers (foot) Out

Nuggets: SG Jamal Murray (knee) Out ** PF Michael Porter Jr (back) Out ** 

Pistons: PF Hamidou Diallo, SF Saddiq Bey, C Isaiah Stewart, PG Cade Cunningham, SG Cory Joseph

Nuggets: PF Jeff Green, SF Aaron Gordon, C Nikola Jokic, SG Will Barton, PG Monte Morris

Pistons

Points: Jerami Grant 20.1

Assists: Cade Cunningham 5.1

Rebounds: Isaiah Stewart 8.0

Steals: Cade Cunningham 1.3

Blocks: Isaiah Stewart 1.2

Nuggets

Points: Nikola Jokic 25.9

Assists: Nikola Jokic 7.5

Rebounds: Nikola Jokic 13.9

Steals: Nikola Jokic 1.4

Blocks: Nikola Jokic 0.8

Coaches

Detroit: Dwayne Casey

Denver: Michael Malone