• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers
• Game Tracker

Denver dominates Detroit

Mar 13, 2011 - 7:25 AM Denver, CO (Sports Network) - J.R. Smith led eight Nuggets players in double- figures, scoring a season-high 31 points, as Denver dominated Detroit, 131-101, at the Pepsi Center.

Nene posted 18 points and 11 rebounds while Ty Lawson added 15 points and dished out 11 assists for Denver, which has won back-to-back games and five of six.

Chris Andersen added 14 points on 4-of-4 shooting and Raymond Felton scored 12 with six assists for the Nuggets, who swept the season series between these two teams.

"It wasn't a great defensive game but we did force 10 steals," Nuggets coach George Karl said. "We scored a lot of points off their mistakes, as long as we do that we will score enough points to win."

Chris Wilcox let the Pistons with 21 points in a reserve role while Richard Hamilton added 15 points as Detroit dropped its third-straight and fifth in six games.

Trailing 66-60 at the half, the Pistons came out strong to start the third and a Greg Monroe jumper 5 1/2 minutes in tied the game at 72. However, Gary Forbes' layup on the far end started a 21-2 Denver run that put the game away.

The Nuggets went 4-for-4 from beyond the arc in the run, and Felton's triple with 33.5 seconds remaining ended it, putting their lead at 93-74 entering the fourth.

"The lack of communication hurt," Pistons coach John Kuester said. "We talked about making adjustments but there were a number of times where guys didn't communicate."

The final quarter was never in contention as all of Detroit's starters watched from the bench.

Nene and Hamilton paced their respected teams with 10 points in the first quarter, however, the Nuggets shot 4-of-5 from three-point range to take a 33-28 lead after one. Denver took a 66-60 lead into the half after the back- and-forth second quarter.

Game Notes

The Nuggets have now won six-straight at home and have a 27-7 record at Pepsi Center...Denver made a franchise-record 18 three-pointers...Arron Afflalo missed the game for the Nuggets with a hamstring injury...Forbes and Al Harrington both finished with 10 points while Wilson Chandler added 11 points and five rebounds for the victors...Kenyon Martin added nine points and six assists for Denver...Ben Gordon and Tayshaun Prince scored 13 and 12 points, respectively, in the loss.