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Nuggets battle Pistons in Mile High City

Mar 19, 2014 - 2:12 PM (SportsNetwork.com) - The Denver Nuggets have won three of their last four and will try to carry that momentum into Wednesday night's tilt with the Detroit Pistons at the Pepsi Center.

The Nuggets have won three in a row at home and closed a recent southern swing with wins over the Miami Heat and Orlando Magic. The only loss in the last week came in Atlanta on Saturday.

Denver's return home was a great one thanks to a 110-100 victory on Monday over the Los Angeles Clippers. The Nuggets win halted an 11-game winning streak for the Clips.

J.J. Hickson provided 21 points and 11 rebounds off the bench for the Nuggets.

All five Nuggets starters scored in double digits, with Kenneth Faried supplying 18 points and 16 rebounds and Ty Lawson adding 19 points, including eight during a game-ending 14-2 run.

"Overall, good job by our team today to holding this team [Clippers], which was the hottest team in the NBA, to coming in and breaking their streak at 11 games and holding them to 39 percent shooting [and] 24 percent from three," Nuggets head coach Brian Shaw said.

The Pistons embark on a four-game western trip with stops in Phoenix, Los Angeles (Clippers) and Utah after Wednesday's matchup with the Nuggets.

Detroit has been struggling of late, losing two straight, five of six and nine of 11. Despite all of these woes, the Pistons are just 5 1/2 games behind the eighth playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.

Detroit's most recent setback came Friday night at home against the Indiana Pacers. The Pistons let one slip by as they fell to the Central Division leaders by a 112-104 count in overtime.

The Pistons led by as many as 25 points in the first half, but fell in overtime.

Josh Smith recorded 23 points in the loss, the 12th in 15 games for the fading Pistons. Rodney Stuckey added 19 points and Greg Monroe had 17 along with a game-high 13 rebounds.

"Give credit to (Indiana), they didn't stop fighting," said Smith. "We competed tonight, but it was a little frustrating that we fell short with how well we played in the first half."

Andre Drummond left in the fourth quarter with a neck injury and he won't be available on Wednesday.

The Pistons bested the Nuggets in Detroit on Feb. 8 to snap a six-game losing streak to Denver. The Nuggets have won four in a row as the host in this series.