We we know Dumars at least put a worm on the hook and cast it towards the Nugget’s Carmelo Anthony. Just to recap, Joe Dumars offered up Chauncey Billups and Tayshaun Prince for Carmelo Anthony and Denver (at least for now) is content with keeping their high scoring forward. That much we know.

Even though this deal at this point in time seems to be merely a suggestion I do have some thoughts on it.

On Chauncey: It just seems odd to think that one summer after Mr. Big Shot is made the richest Piston in history that he’s on the trading block.

This implies to me that Joe A) sees Chauncey on the decline. Much like his foresight with Ben Wallace two summers ago. And B) Joe and co. seen enough in Rodney Stuckey to give him Chauncey’s spot if they had to part with Big Shot.

It be tough to see Chauncey go. He’s the present face of the franchise. After bouncing all over the league his tenure in Detroit is all-in-all is a great story and it would be nice to see him finish here, but the bottom line is that as GM Joe’s job is to put trophys in on the mantle.

On Tayshaun: Joe said no one is untouchable, but I just though that was jargon for “it’s time for Rasheed to go”. I guess I never really thought about the possibility on parting with the Palace Prince. Unlike the other four starters Tayshaun was drafted by the Pistons. We watched him progress into the player he is today. He’s the reason we don’t already have Carmelo Anthony.

Tayshaun always has a great attitude, whereas Carmelo’s attitude and character have come into question over the years. It would be a tough contrast to get used to as far as how we view “Pistons” to be character guys.

Nuggets (120) @ Pistons (136)

[Box score]

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.

The Pistons (48-18) will be hosting the Denver Nuggets (40-26) Tip off is 7:30 pm est from the Palace of Auburn Hills and will be televised locally on Fox Sports Detroit

Nuggets’ Snapshot
Road record: 12-19
Vs. East: 17-9
Last game: 3/16 (Sun) W 116-168 Vs. Sonics
Last 10: 7-3
Last game: Feb. 25th - Pistons (98) @ Nuggets (93)

The Pistons for a long time now have hung their hat on their ability to defend and keep their opponents scores below 100, well that’ll be tested tonight when the Denver Nuggets play the Palace. The Nuggs went bonkers on Sunday scoring 168 points against the Sonics, the 4th most points ever by a team in regulation. Despite it being against lowly Seattle it’s still impressive. And, it’s not like it was Carmelo or A.I. just going off either. Eight Nuggets were in double figures with no one totaling more than 26. They shot 60% from the field, which includes 51% from beyond the big boy line.

Denver is pretty much being forced to play Nuggets to the wall bball as they currently are on the outside looking in at in the West’s super tight playoff race. Every game is like a playoff game.

The odds makers have our Pistons as a 6 point favorite. The Nuggets have not won at the Palace since 1995.

ALSO SEE:

• Pistons.com: Bombs Away
• Nugg Doctor

Remember what happened when the Nuggets played the Palace last season?

[Box score] You got the feeling watching this one that it might have saw a couple of overtimes because it seemed like neither team could pull away. The game saw 22 ties and 19 lead changes. Luckily the Pistons did pull away after J.R. Smith wasn’t able to convert on free throws that would have tied the game after being fouled by Chauncey on a three pointer with 6.5 seconds to play in the game.

So, if you’re keeping track the Pistons have won three straight after losing two straight on the heels of winning 10 straight. Pretty streaky guys.

Denver native Chauncey Billups (8 asts, 7/7 FT), Tayshuan Prince (9 asts, 6 rbs) and Rip Hamilton (6 asts, 8 rbs) all scored 20 points a piece. All Piston’s starters scored in double figures with Antonio McDyess recording a 16 point, 13 rebound double-double.

With the starters getting a lot of rest courtesy of blowing out the Suns the day before in Phoenix, they had the fresh legs to hang on and eventually finish off Denver. That’s not to say the Zoo Crew didn’t put in work and provide energy, but it was the main guys closing out the game for the ‘Stonz.

Garrett Ellwood / Getty

NOTES: Former Piston (1986-89) Adrian Dantley sat in the first seat for the Nuggets filling in for George Karl who was out with the Flu. This was Dantley’s second shot at head coaching, the first coming in a 111-105 win at the Los Angeles Lakers on April 3, 2007…Allen Iverson & Carmelo Anthony combined for 51 of Denver’s points…The Pistons had 29 team assists and shot 17/19 from the free-throw line…Best Damn Sports Show was playing in the Pistons’ locker room before the game and they were replaying Allen Iverson’s “Practice?” meltdown. It’s amazing how that never gets old. Rasheed, Chauncey, Dyess, Tayshaun, they were all cracking up like they were seeing it for the first time.(source)

The Pistons (41-15) will be in Denver to take on the Nuggets (33-22) Tip off is 9:00 pm est from the Pepsi Center and will be televised locally on TV20

Nuggets’ Snapshot
Home record: 22-6
Vs. East: 16-8
Last game: 2/23 (Sat) L 109-115 @ Bucks
Last 10: 6-4

The Nuggets are currently tied with Golden State for the 8th and final playoff spot in the ultra-competitive Western Conference, where as if the were in the East they’d be in 4th. The Nuggets are currently on a two game slide losing after a couple of frustrating games, the first in Chicago and then in Milwaukee. So, you have to assume they’re happy to be back at the Pepsi Center. The Pistons will be looking to hand the Nuggets their season high 3rd loss in a row.

The Pistons have averaged 121 points in their last two wins.

Detroit swept the season series with Denver last year.