Denver @ Detroit preview

Last Meeting ( Mar 26, 2019 ) Detroit 92, Denver 95

The Denver Nuggets will try to avoid a letdown after their most impressive win of the season when they visit the Detroit Pistons on Sunday. After knocking off Utah at home Thursday night, the Nuggets completed a challenging back-to-back with a head-turning 127-115 victory at the NBA-best Milwaukee Bucks on Friday.

"It is big," forward Michael Porter Jr. told reporters after Denver got all nine players that appeared to score in double figures. "The Bucks, they've got the best record in the NBA. I think they had won nine straight. They have a crazy good home record. So, to come in here and get this win on a back-to-back like this, big-time." Nikola Jokic fell an assist shy of a triple-double and Will Barton flirted with one of his own while scoring a team-high 24 points as the Nuggets won for the 10th time in their last 14 games. The Pistons are struggling through a five-game losing streak - tied for their longest this season - after Friday's 105-92 home loss to Toronto. They shot 35.4 percent from the floor, the team's worst mark at home, while falling to 9-17 in Motown.

TIME: 12:30 p.m. ET. TV: Altitude, FSN Detroit, TSN5

ABOUT THE NUGGETS (34-15): The remarkable balance that saw all nine players to appear score between 10 and 24 points was not lost on the coaching staff that strives to get everyone involved. "I've never seen that," coach Michael Malone told reporters. "Will Barton was tremendous, Nikola, Jerami Grant seven blocks, Malik Beasley five 3s, you can go on and on and on. This was a true team win and a true testament to the character of this group." Beasley hit his five triples in 10 attempts after going 4-of-25 over his previous seven games.

ABOUT THE PISTONS (17-33): Andre Drummond finished with 20 points and 20 rebounds in Friday's loss and Derrick Rose scored 21 points, but their teammates were a combined 12-of-51 from the field and the team never really challenged the Raptors, who saw many of their fans cross the border to fill Little Caesars Arena. "The only way to silence that is to win," coach Dwane Casey told reporters of the relative lack of homecourt advantage. "It took a while to build it and it didn't happen overnight. We have to have a plan to get our team in that position, and that is what we are doing now. There is a plan." Detroit was outscored 66-28 in the paint in the loss.

BUZZER BEATERS

1. Pistons PG Reggie Jackson scored eight points in 30 minutes Friday after averaging 18.8 in 23.3 minutes through his first four games following a three-month layoff due to a back issue.

2. Porter averaged 12.3 points and 6.9 rebounds in January after posting marks of 6.4 and 3.2, respectively, in December.

3. The teams split two meetings last season.

PREDICTION: Nuggets 108, Pistons 101