In 2023, the Detroit Pistons didn’t record their first win in December until their final game of the month.
On Saturday night, they have a chance to close out this December with a winning record when they wrap up a four-game road swing in Denver.
Detroit has won the first three contests of the trip, including Thursday night’s 114-113 victory over the Sacramento Kings on a four-point play by Jaden Ivey with 3 seconds left.
Saturday’s game might be the toughest challenge, as the Pistons will be playing in altitude against perennial NBA MVP candidate Nikola Jokic. But Detroit has a budding superstar in Cade Cunningham, who leads the team in scoring (24.2 points) and assists (9.7) per game.
Cunningham has six triple-doubles this season and six double-doubles in the past eight games to help Detroit reach 14 wins, matching its total from 2023-24.
“Give him a challenge, and he accepts it,” Pistons coach J.B. Bickerstaff recently said of Cunningham. “That’s the thing that, as we’ve gone, I can make a comment to him, whether it be the fourth quarter or halftime or whatever it is, I can make a challenge to him in shootaround about his defensive matchup, whatever it may be, and he can go out and get it done.”
Cunningham is getting plenty of help from his teammates. Ivey is averaging 17.5 points a game, former Nugget Malik Beasley is scoring at a clip of 16.7 points a night and Jalen Duran sets the pace with 9.2 rebounds.
Duran will have to contend with Jokic, who is averaging a career-high 30.5 points per game. He also leads Denver in assists (9.5) and rebounding (12.7).
Jamal Murray is second in scoring at 19.2 per game and Michael Porter Jr. (18.4) is third.
The Nuggets won’t have their best defender in versatile big man Aaron Gordon. He will miss his second straight game with a right calf strain sustained in Wednesday’s 110-100 loss at Phoenix.
Gordon missed 10 games earlier this season with the same injury.
Coach Michael Malone has lamented his team’s struggles on defense, which has not capitalized on its strong offense. The Nuggets are tied for third in the NBA in scoring at 119.6 points per game, however they are allowing opponents to score 117.2.
Malone pointed out his team was one of the top defensive units last year but has slipped this season to 24th in the NBA.
“Overall this season our defense is not where it needs to be,” he said. “… Our transition defense, our paint defense and our second-chance points allowed are all bottom five. So, that’s going to make it hard to be a team that consistently plays well and defends well if you’re getting beat down the floor, off the dribble, and on the glass night in and night out.”