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DETROIT
DENVER |
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205.5
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Final
89 |
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| 715 | DETROIT | 211 | 208 | | 716 | DENVER | -7.5 | -6.5 |
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| All Games | 29-53 | -30 | 36-46 | 55-26 | 101.0 | 51.6 | 44.7% | 54.9 | 104.7 | 52.8 | 47.0% | 51.6 | | Road Games | 12-29 | -10.6 | 21-20 | 28-13 | 101.0 | 49.9 | 44.1% | 55.5 | 105.8 | 53.8 | 47.6% | 51.4 | | Last 5 Games | 1-4 | -0.5 | 3-2 | 4-1 | 103.6 | 51.0 | 43.2% | 58.8 | 110.2 | 55.2 | 47.4% | 52.8 |
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| Team Stats (All Games) | 101.0 | 51.6 | 39-87 | 44.7% | 6-19 | 32.1% | 17-26 | 67.0% | 55 | 15 | 21 | 20 | 8 | 14 | 5 | | vs opponents surrendering | 100.5 | 50.3 | 37-82 | 45.4% | 8-22 | 36.1% | 18-24 | 75.7% | 51 | 11 | 22 | 21 | 8 | 14 | 5 | | Team Stats (Road Games) | 101.0 | 49.9 | 39-88 | 44.1% | 7-20 | 33.6% | 17-25 | 66.9% | 55 | 15 | 20 | 20 | 9 | 14 | 5 | | Stats Against (All Games) | 104.7 | 52.8 | 39-83 | 47.0% | 8-23 | 36.5% | 18-24 | 75.6% | 52 | 11 | 24 | 21 | 8 | 14 | 5 | | vs opponents averaging | 99.9 | 49.9 | 37-82 | 45.2% | 8-22 | 35.9% | 18-23 | 75.8% | 51 | 11 | 22 | 21 | 8 | 14 | 5 | | Stats Against (Road Games) | 105.8 | 53.8 | 40-84 | 47.6% | 8-23 | 35.8% | 18-24 | 75.8% | 51 | 11 | 25 | 21 | 8 | 15 | 5 |
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| All Games | 36-46 | -15.8 | 39-42 | 41-39 | 104.4 | 52.6 | 44.7% | 54.7 | 106.5 | 54.9 | 45.7% | 53.2 | | Home Games | 22-19 | -13.6 | 18-23 | 20-19 | 106.0 | 54.3 | 44.6% | 56.3 | 105.1 | 53.4 | 44.4% | 54.4 | | Last 5 Games | 3-2 | +2.9 | 2-3 | 3-2 | 108.2 | 48.6 | 43.1% | 58.0 | 108.4 | 56.8 | 46.8% | 52.2 |
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| Team Stats (All Games) | 104.4 | 52.6 | 38-86 | 44.7% | 9-24 | 35.8% | 19-26 | 72.6% | 55 | 12 | 22 | 23 | 7 | 15 | 6 | | vs opponents surrendering | 101.2 | 50.5 | 38-83 | 45.5% | 8-22 | 35.9% | 18-24 | 75.7% | 51 | 11 | 22 | 21 | 8 | 14 | 5 | | Team Stats (Home Games) | 106.0 | 54.3 | 39-88 | 44.6% | 9-24 | 36.4% | 19-26 | 72.5% | 56 | 12 | 23 | 23 | 7 | 15 | 6 | | Stats Against (All Games) | 106.5 | 54.9 | 39-86 | 45.7% | 7-21 | 35.1% | 20-26 | 76.3% | 53 | 11 | 22 | 22 | 8 | 14 | 6 | | vs opponents averaging | 101.5 | 50.8 | 38-83 | 45.6% | 8-22 | 36.0% | 18-24 | 75.9% | 51 | 11 | 22 | 21 | 8 | 14 | 5 | | Stats Against (Home Games) | 105.1 | 53.4 | 39-87 | 44.4% | 7-21 | 35.3% | 21-27 | 75.6% | 54 | 11 | 22 | 22 | 8 | 14 | 6 |
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| | Average power rating of opponents played: DETROIT 95.4, DENVER 95.9 |
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| 10/29/2014 | @ DENVER | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 10/30/2014 | @ MINNESOTA | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 11/1/2014 | BROOKLYN | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 11/5/2014 | NEW YORK | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 11/7/2014 | MILWAUKEE | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 11/9/2014 | UTAH | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 11/10/2014 | @ CHICAGO | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 11/12/2014 | @ WASHINGTON | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 11/14/2014 | @ OKLAHOMA CITY | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
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| 10/29/2014 | DETROIT | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 11/1/2014 | @ OKLAHOMA CITY | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 11/3/2014 | SACRAMENTO | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 11/5/2014 | @ SACRAMENTO | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 11/7/2014 | CLEVELAND | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 11/9/2014 | @ PORTLAND | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 11/12/2014 | PORTLAND | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 11/14/2014 | @ INDIANA | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
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| |  | DETROIT: GUARDS: New head coach Stan Van Gundy's system is perfect for BRANDON JENNINGS, as it is heavy on high pick-and-rolls, which is where Jennings is most dangerous. He'll never be an efficient scorer . . . Detroit gave a good chunk of change to JODIE MEEKS, so he's likely to start as a spot-up shooter when he returns from a back injury in January . . . A Tskitishvili Award-winner as one of the stars of Summer League, KENTAVIOUS CALDWELL-POPE has a shot to carve out sixth-man minutes . . . After a mini-breakout with Chicago, D.J. AUGUSTIN is the insurance policy behind Jennings. He's also a great fit for Van Gundy's system . . . WILL BYNUM has been downright solid with the second unit, but he'll have to play his way back into the rotation . . . This is a redshirt season for SPENCER DINWIDDIE as he comes back from a torn ACL. FORWARDS: They'll keep shopping JOSH SMITH, who is miscast as a 3 on this roster . . . KYLE SINGLER will continue to see solid part-time minutes. He can play both wing spots and has become a good enough threat on corner threes . . . CARON BUTLER joins a crowded frontcourt. He's evolved into a three-point specialist in the latter part of his career . . . Van Gundy is a JONAS JEREBKO believer. The stretch-4 fell out of favor the past two seasons, but he has a chance to earn a big role off the bench . . . CARTIER MARTIN gives them another athletic wing who can shoot the three . . . Euro import LUIGI DATOME was a big disappointment last season. He'll have a tough time breaking into this rotation . . . TONY MITCHELL might be looking at another year in the D-League . . . GREG MONROE is an everyday double-double threat. He'll fill the stat sheet as he plays for a contract for next season. CENTERS: ANDRE DRUMMOND is a monster on the boards with Defensive Player of the Year upside once he improves in space. Offensively, he can dunk but not much else . . . AARON GRAY is here to fill out the roster once he's cleared to return from his heart problems. | | DENVER: GUARDS: TY LAWSON is the facilitator in Denver's up-tempo offense. Durability is a concern, as he missed 15-plus games for the third time in five career seasons during the 2013-14 campaign . . . ARRON AFFLALO is what the Nuggets need. He'll be a No. 3 scorer and, more importantly, gives them a big defensive upgrade . . . Denver can't afford to play RANDY FOYE so many minutes. He's a serviceable reserve, but they won't win games if he's playing 30-plus minutes . . . The Afflalo acquisition blocks him, but GARY HARRIS is tough-nosed on defense and a solid deep threat . . . NATE ROBINSON might unseat Foye for the sixth-man role by midseason, but first he'll have to work his way back from a torn ACL . . . Combo guard ERICK GREEN will pick up garbage-time minutes. FORWARDS: KENNETH FARIED is one of the few bright spots in Denver. He can't generate his own offense, but he's effective filling lanes and picking up garbage points in this system . . . If he's ever 100 percent healthy again, DANILO GALLINARI will be the go-to scorer on this team. But he's a question mark after missing all of last season with a torn ACL . . . WILSON CHANDLER won't be relied on as heavily this season, but he's going to get major minutes as a floor spacer who can play the 2-guard or either forward spot . . . Stretch-4 DARRELL ARTHUR is a solid rotation guy when he's shooting well, but he was laying bricks last season . . . QUINCY MILLER has intriguing athleticism, but remains a raw project . . . Even if he wasn't coming off a torn ACL, J.J. HICKSON would not make this rotation. CENTERS: TIMOFEY MOZGOV may have grabbed the lead in this center-by-committee group with his strong finish to last season . . . A stress fracture cost JaVALE McGEE his chance to secure a full-time role last season. The tantalizing, but consistently disappointing, big man should make the rotation, but has an uphill battle to earn minutes . . . JUSUF NURKIC is a high-upside project as a 7-footer with a legit NBA offensive skill set. |
| | ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ PA SPORTSTICKER PRO BASKETBALL PREVIEW (DETROIT-DENVER) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
*Pistons-Nuggets Preview* =========================
By JACK CASSIDY STATS Writer
Detroit (0-0) at Denver (0-0), 9:00 p.m. EDT
Injuries contributed to the Denver Nuggets dropping from a 57-win team in 2012-13 to 11th place in the Western Conference last season.
Now fully healthy, the Nuggets look to return to their winning ways starting Wednesday night against the visiting Detroit Pistons.
Denver plummeted to a 36-46 record last season due to a rash of health problems. Danilo Gallinari missed all of 2013-14 with a knee injury, JaVale McGee played in only five games and J.J. Hickson and Nate Robinson suffered ACL injuries, leaving point guard Ty Lawson and forward Kenneth Faried as the focal points of the offense.
"When we're (a) top three (seed) in the West, they're going to know who we are," Lawson said.
Lawson took on an expanded role due to the absences last season, averaging 17.6 points, 8.8 assists, 3.5 rebounds and 1.6 steals - all career highs. However, he also finished with 200 turnovers and the worst shooting percentage of his career at 43.1.
"Ty Lawson has All-Star ability," coach Brian Shaw said. "Whether he takes that next step or not is completely and utterly up to him. That's going to come down to his commitment every day in practice."
Shaw has similar expectations for Faried, who averaged 13.7 points and 8.6 rebounds last season before representing the United States in the World Cup, during which he shot 63.3 percent and was named to the All-Star Five. Denver rewarded him with a four-year, $50 million extension.
"He will be a point of emphasis for other teams to game plan against, whereas before maybe he wasn't," Shaw said. "It's what every player goes through that reaches that level.
"Star players, once they have an effective season, the next season, teams start double-teaming them and game-planning specifically for the strengths you bring to the floor. He has to learn how to negotiate through that."
To complement Lawson and Faried, Denver traded for Orlando shooting guard Arron Afflalo, who made 42.7 percent from 3-point range last season to rank sixth in the league.
"We played at a fast pace last year," Shaw said. "We'll play an even faster pace this year."
The Nuggets will present an immediate challenge to Detroit (29-53), which ranked 27th in the NBA last season with 104.7 points allowed per game.
The Pistons added Caron Butler, Jodie Meeks and D.J. Augustin in the offseason, but enter 2014-15 with largely the same core group. Detroit's top three scorers in Josh Smith, Greg Monroe and Brandon Jennings return, as does Andre Drummond, second in the league with 13.2 rebounds per game last season.
Monroe will miss the first two games due to a suspension stemming from a DUI arrest in February.
Detroit's most notable addition is Stan Van Gundy, who takes over as coach and president. He's posted a 371-208 record in nine seasons with Miami and the Magic.
"We can win," Van Gundy said. "We can, but we have to do the things that it takes to win every night.
"It's not easy and sometimes we don't do those things and we give too many possessions away just from not competing hard enough or playing tough enough. There are habits to change. When you've lost for a long time, you get into losing habits."
Van Gundy and his .641 winning percentage provide hope for a Pistons franchise that has posted back-to-back 29-win seasons.
"This is the most important decision we have made as an organization," owner Tom Gores said. "Not only did we hire a coach and president of basketball, we are resetting the culture of the franchise. I'm so confident that this is going to work."
The Pistons have lost seven of eight matchups with the Nuggets, including five in a row in Denver.
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| | Last Updated: 4/26/2024 10:54:59 AM EST. |
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