Nuggets (120) @ Pistons (136)
Going into this game was a little worried about the Nuggets getting up and down the court and scoring in bunches. Granted, I knew they were not going drop 168 on us like they did to Seattle, I just didn’t want the Pistons getting caught up in a shot chucking free-for-all. The Pistons did give up a season high 120 points but that didn’t matter because they managed to out-Nugget Denver hanging a season high 136 points on them.
Instead of doing a regular recap I want to take a look at these numbers and delve into the historical significance of them.
ASSISTS: It’s been well publicized that when this team shares the ball they’re hard to beat, and perfect when the assists totals 25 or better. Well, how good would the other team have to be if the Pistons have 42 assists?! The season high mark is the highest since 4/10/92 when the Pistons had 43 against the Charlotte Hornets. The 42 assists were a mere 6 shy of the franchise mark of 48 set in 1973 in and overtime game against Cleveland.
SCORING: The 136 points scored was the most since 2/21/90 when the Pistons beat the Magic at the Palace 140-109. The Pistons hadn’t scored 130 points in regulation since beating Denver 130-116 on 3/8/00.
The Pistons scored 73 points in the first half which is the most in a first half since 4/16/91 (which was a 118-90 win over Boston), and the most in any half since 1996. The Pistons record for points in a first half is 78 which came in a 151-132 win against the Cincinnati Royals on January 7th of 1972.
No one went off for the Pistons, it was a very balanced effort. There were 7 guys in the home whites scoring in double figures. Rip led the scoring with 24, Rasheed had 21, Jason Maxiell led the bench scoring with 18 (7 rbs), Jarvis continued his hot shooting (6/10) with 17, Chauncey had 14 (10 asts), Tayshaun pitched in 13, and Rodney Stuckey was solid with 11. The Pistons bench out scored Denver’s 56-37.
The Pistons connected 55 field goals, shooting the ball at a 60.4% rate. Both season highs.
What ever it is the Pistons and Nuggets have had some memorable games between them. This one can go with the with the 1983 highest scoring contest and last season’s OT game that needed a miracle steal and 3/4 court heave from Rasheed to get it there. Gotta love the fact too that all three of those games had the same result, a Pistons W.
