In the third game of the Denver Nuggets’ five-game road trip, Michael Malone and Nikola Jokic were given early access to the showers by the officials. Behind former Pistons Reggie Jackson and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, the rest of the Nuggets grinded out a valiant victory over the Detroit Pistons. Despite Cade Cunningham’s best efforts, the home team was unable to score during the final two minutes of the game as the Nuggets tightened their grip. Denver wins 107–103 and escapes.

Early in the game, the Pistons led by one point since both teams appeared to have played the night before and lacked a little vigor. Denver, in particular, lost possession of the ball carelessly and was unable to string together a play or even score a basket. Detroit’s Marvin Bagley led the team in aggression and increased their advantage to eight points. The Nuggets’ intensity increased as they moved back behind Jokic and KCP. As the quarter was coming to an end, Joker gave Denver the lead with a flawless eurostep past James Wiseman. Malone switched to a full bench lineup when he checked out. Soon after, he became enraged over something and showed the referee his dissatisfaction in an unsportsmanlike manner. This led to the Nuggets head coach receiving multiple technical fouls and being ejected. Christian Braun carried the bench to a great quarter-ending performance, continuing his recent upward trend in play. Denver had the lead after the first, 27–23.

The second quarter began with the bench group, but acting head coach David Adelman promptly brought back Jackson, who, along with some strong defence from Zeke Nnaji, helped keep the Nuggets ahead. Even with Jokic sitting on the bench, Detroit rallied to get within three points before Nikola returned. Midway through the quarter, Cunningham regained his composure and managed to keep Detroit within striking distance. The Nuggets were holding onto a narrow lead as the teams traded baskets throughout the quarter. With a few minutes remaining in the half, Jokic picked up his second technical foul due to his frustration with the officials’ lack of calls. The referees then called double technicals on Aaron Gordon and Bagley, eager for the limelight. As a result, Detroit gained the upper hand and took the lead. Jackson drove to the hoop and used every last tenth of a second in the half to get a layup at the buzzer and get Denver back in the lead at 56-55.

Detroit regained the lead when Denver’s defence was ineffective in the first quarter of the fourth quarter, forcing David Adelman to call an early timeout. The Pistons were able to maintain their lead because Denver’s offence lacked rhythm, and they had to settle for shots. But Porter was not going to let Denver slip behind. With the quarter almost halfway over, he continued to shoot and made enough threes to give Denver the lead again. Jokic’s absence was felt by the Nuggets both on the glass and on offense. Detroit got several second chances, but they didn’t always cash them in as the game remained tight. Denver’s offence went cold again. It seemed like if they could find just one guy on offence to give them consistency, they could get a win, but with under half the quarter left, they were still searching for that guy. Jackson tied the game with an and-one at about the 3 and a half minute mark as we headed towards a tight finish. Denver tightened up the defence while Cunningham tried to single-handedly win the game for Detroit. Jackson and Gordon played a two-man game down the stretch and didn’t let Detroit get anything easy. With eleven seconds remaining, they secured a rebound, giving them a three-point advantage. Jackson iced it away at the free throw line and Denver somehow finds a way to win