Denver Nuggets – Detroit Pistons · NBA

Win probability changed during the game. · 3 February 2026

DEN121–124DET

Is it worth watching?

Skippable

It was more exciting than 47% of NBA games since 2017

It measures how much the win probability moved during the game —without looking at who won or at the score— and compares it with the 10,950 NBA games with a curve since 2017. “Highly recommended” is the most intense 20%, “recommended” runs from 50% to 80%, and “skippable” is the rest. Source: ESPN.

↑ DET winsDEN wins ↓

Home team's win probability across the game (source: ESPN). The band rises when DET leads and falls when DEN does.

This is how the game was decided.

Cade Cunningham decided it, the Detroit Pistons player with the most points (29, with 2 rebounds and 10 assists; +11 with him on the floor). The criterion: the winner's points in the box score; plus-minus says who was on the floor when the game opened up.

Detroit Pistons 124-121 Denver Nuggets (February 3, 2026) was not decided in the closing minutes: the Detroit Pistons went ahead for good in the first quarter (9:31 left), with a three-pointer by Duncan Robinson for 5-2, and never gave up the lead.

The biggest run of Detroit Pistons 124-121 Denver Nuggets (February 3, 2026) was a 10-0 run by the Detroit Pistons in the second quarter (from 1:34 to 9.1 s), from 59-50 to 69-50. The Denver Nuggets' best was a 9-0 run in the first quarter (from 3:21 to 2:13), from 13-24 to 22-24.

What were the keys of the last Detroit Pistons vs Denver Nuggets game?

▸See where these figures come from

I count as the game-winner the basket that puts the winning team ahead for good. Source: the official NBA play-by-play (since 2002-03) and each team's official box scores.

A run here is consecutive points by one team without the opponent scoring. Source: the official NBA play-by-play (since 2002-03) and each team's official box scores.

Source: the game's official box score and play-by-play.

Rotations · who was on the floor

Closing lineup · DEN

Watson · Murray · Jokic · Hardaway · Valanciunas

Closing lineup · DET

Cunningham · Harris · Duren · Thompson · Stewart

Q1Q2Q3Q4

DEN

Peyton Watson

38′ · +9

Jamal Murray

37′ · +5

Nikola Jokic

33′ · -9

Christian Braun

26′ · -9

Jalen Pickett

10′ · -4

Tim Hardaway Jr.

27′ · -9

Bruce Brown

23′ · -9

Jonas Valanciunas

22′ · +16

Julian Strawther

23′ · -1

Zeke Nnaji

1′ · -4

DET

Cade Cunningham

38′ · +11

Tobias Harris

34′ · +3

Jalen Duren

31′ · 0

Duncan Robinson

25′ · -1

Ausar Thompson

24′ · +9

Caris LeVert

20′ · -8

Isaiah Stewart

23′ · -2

Ronald Holland II

15′ · +4

Daniss Jenkins

16′ · -1

Javonte Green

14′ · 0

Each bar is a stint on the floor (source: NBA). The number is minutes played and the team's +/− with him on the court. DEN and DET.

These lineups played the most minutes together.

Denver Nuggets

Murray, Pickett, Braun, Watson, and Jokic played 10.4 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 4 points.
Murray, Brown, Watson, Valanciunas, and Hardaway played 4.7 minutes together.
Their team won that stretch by 9 points.
Murray, Strawther, Braun, Watson, and Jokic played 4.1 minutes together.
Their team won that stretch by 2 points.

Detroit Pistons

Robinson, Cunningham, Duren, Thompson, and Harris played 12.2 minutes together.
Their team won that stretch by 6 points.
LeVert, Green, Stewart, Cunningham, and Holland played 6.1 minutes together.
Their team won that stretch by 1 point.
Robinson, Duren, Thompson, Jenkins, and Harris played 5.2 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 5 points.

▸See every lineup of the game

Denver Nuggets

Brown, Strawther, Braun, Valanciunas, and Hardaway played 3.9 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 4 points.
Brown, Strawther, Valanciunas, Hardaway, and Jokic played 3.8 minutes together.
Their team tied that stretch.
Murray, Brown, Strawther, Watson, and Jokic played 3.6 minutes together.
Their team won that stretch by 4 points.
Murray, Braun, Watson, Hardaway, and Jokic played 3.3 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 3 points.
Murray, Strawther, Watson, Valanciunas, and Hardaway played 3.1 minutes together.
Their team won that stretch by 3 points.
Murray, Brown, Watson, Hardaway, and Jokic played 3.0 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 10 points.
Murray, Braun, Watson, Valanciunas, and Jokic played 1.9 minutes together.
Their team won that stretch by 2 points.
Brown, Strawther, Watson, Valanciunas, and Hardaway played 1.9 minutes together.
Their team tied that stretch.
Brown, Strawther, Braun, Hardaway, and Jokic played 1.5 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 4 points.
Murray, Watson, Valanciunas, Hardaway, and Jokic played 1.4 minutes together.
Their team won that stretch by 4 points.

Detroit Pistons

LeVert, Stewart, Cunningham, Holland, and Harris played 4.4 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 4 points.
Cunningham, Duren, Thompson, Jenkins, and Harris played 3.3 minutes together.
Their team won that stretch by 11 points.
LeVert, Green, Stewart, Cunningham, and Harris played 2.8 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 1 point.
Robinson, Cunningham, Duren, Jenkins, and Harris played 2.7 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 4 points.
LeVert, Stewart, Holland, Jenkins, and Harris played 2.5 minutes together.
Their team won that stretch by 1 point.
LeVert, Green, Stewart, Cunningham, and Duren played 2.1 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 1 point.
Robinson, Green, Stewart, Cunningham, and Holland played 1.3 minutes together.
Their team won that stretch by 6 points.
LeVert, Robinson, Stewart, Duren, and Jenkins played 1.3 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 4 points.
Robinson, Green, Cunningham, Duren, and Thompson played 1.0 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 2 points.

▸See where these figures come from

The lineups come from the NBA's official rotation: who was on the floor and when. Each lineup's plus-minus is worked out from every player's stints and is only shown when they all add up with each other and with the final score.

Peyton Watson covered 4.79 km, more than anyone in the game.

Cade Cunningham touched the ball 97 times, a game high.
Nikola Jokić made 67 passes, a game high.
Nikola Jokić defended 11 shots at the rim, a game high, and opponents made 7.

▸See what was measured for each player

Denver Nuggets

Player	km	km/h	Touches	Passes
Peyton Watson	4.79	7.0	54	34
Jamal Murray	4.42	6.6	58	34
Nikola Jokić	3.51	5.9	94	67
Christian Braun	3.28	7.0	22	16
Tim Hardaway Jr.	3.25	6.5	29	19
Julian Strawther	3.15	7.4	31	19
Bruce Brown	2.82	6.6	30	22
Jonas Valanciunas	2.38	6.1	36	27
Jalen Pickett	1.30	7.1	16	11
Zeke Nnaji	0.08	6.6	0	0

Detroit Pistons

Player	km	km/h	Touches	Passes
Cade Cunningham	4.68	6.8	97	66
Tobias Harris	3.97	6.6	44	29
Jalen Duren	3.72	6.6	54	38
Duncan Robinson	3.39	7.5	27	14
Ausar Thompson	3.04	7.1	43

How far does Peyton Watson run per game?

The figures come from the NBA's optical tracking (NBA.com) for this game; speed is each player's average while on the floor.

Who guarded whom

Jalen Duren guarded Nikola Jokić for 6.8 minutes, over 40 possessions.
In that time, Nikola Jokić scored 7 points and made 3 of 10 shots.
Nikola Jokić guarded Jalen Duren for 6.7 minutes, over 33 possessions.
In that time, Jalen Duren scored 7 points and made 2 of 4 shots.
Peyton Watson guarded Cade Cunningham for 5.4 minutes, over 29 possessions.
In that time, Cade Cunningham scored 3 points and made 1 of 6 shots.

▸See all 23 matchups of two minutes or more

Denver Nuggets defending

Defender	Attacker	Min	Poss	Pts (FG)
Jokić	Duren	6.7	33	7 (2/4)
Watson	Cunningham	5.4	29	3 (1/6)
Valanciunas	Stewart	4.3	20	3 (0/2)
Watson	Harris	3.6	17	5 (2/5)
Braun	Cunningham	3.1	18	4 (0/0)
Murray	Jenkins	3.0	13	0 (0/2)
Murray	Thompson	2.8	15	0 (0/2)
Hardaway	LeVert	2.7	13	2 (1/2)
Braun	Harris	2.6	13	2 (1/1)
Hardaway	Harris	2.1	10	0 (0/3)
Murray	Harris	2.1	11	0 (0/2)
Brown	Cunningham	2.1	11	7 (2/2)

Detroit Pistons defending

Defender	Attacker	Min	Poss	Pts (FG)
Duren	Jokić	6.8	40	7 (3/10)
Cunningham	Watson	4.8	27	3 (0/0)
Thompson	Murray	4.8	29	3 (1/5)
Stewart	Valanciunas	3.8	17	2 (1/1)
Harris	Braun	3.6	18	2 (1/1)

Matchups come from the NBA's tracking (NBA.com) for this game: how long each defender guarded each attacker and what the attacker produced in that time. Only matchups of two minutes or more are shown.

Who stood out on defense during the season

These figures cover the whole 2025-26 regular season, not this game.

Denver Nuggets

Tim Hardaway Jr. drew 0.09 charges per game over his 79 games.
He ranks 31 of 399 in the league.
Peyton Watson recovered 0.7 loose balls per game over his 54 games.
He ranks 38 of 399 in the league.
Nikola Jokić deflected 2.7 passes per game over his 65 games.
He ranks 40 of 399 in the league.

Detroit Pistons

Ausar Thompson deflected 4.4 passes per game over his 73 games.
He ranks 1 of 399 in the league.
Cade Cunningham recovered 0.9 loose balls per game over his 64 games.
He ranks 5 of 399 in the league.
Jalen Duren recovered 0.8 loose balls per game over his 70 games.
He ranks 12 of 399 in the league.

Hustle figures come from the hustle stats the NBA publishes (NBA.com) and rim defense comes from its tracking; both cover the regular season. For each player in this game we show the figure that ranks him highest in the league, and for each team, the three best ranked. Ranks count players with at least 30 games and, at the rim, at least 4 defended shots per game.

The Detroit Pistons have won 54 of their 103 games against the Denver Nuggets.

54-49record of the Detroit Pistons · NBA 1976-77 – 2025-26, regular season and playoffs

2-0in 2025-26

See the full head-to-head in the Analyst

See where it comes from

Official NBA box scores, regular season and playoffs, 1976-77 – 2025-26. It counts every game between the two teams that the house holds, this one included.

SportiveWorld knows much more about this game

Game context

Attendance

19.976

98.2% of capacity

Little Caesars Arena · Detroit

Scoring

245

combined points

13.8 above the season average (231.2)