NBA Matchups: February 28

Happy Friday! I’m still a little under the weather, but I wanted to try to mix in some player stuff here. I’m never going on vacation during the All-Star break again. I’ll be on for the content to add more info, and I’ll be helping with projections all day.

DEN @ DET | OKC @ ATL | CLE @ BOS | POR @ BKN | IND @ MIA | TOR @ CHI | NYK @ MEM | NOP @ PHX | MIN @ UTA | LAC @ LAL

Denver Nuggets (back end) at Detroit Pistons (front end)

Team Totals: Nuggets 118, Pistons 120

Injury Report: Nuggets on a B2B, Dennis Schroder (P, ankle), Simone Fontecchio (P, finger)

Nuggets projected starters: Jamal Murray, Christian Braun, Michael Porter Jr., Aaron Gordon, Nikola Jokic

Pistons projected starters: Cade Cunningham, Tim Hardaway Jr., Ausar Thompson, Tobias Harris, Jalen Duren

Malone quotes: Said Jokic has no weakness and is a complete basketball player, said Jokic gets so much joy out of making his teammates better, said Jokic was the DPOG because of his reads on the defensive end, said Zeke Nnaji has really stepped up since Peyton Watson went down and he trusts him when he’ll have to go to him later, said he wished he went to Jalen Pickett sooner, said they dominated the boards and transition but they couldn’t get any foul calls, said they really struggled in the paint, said they lost the minutes without Dame/Giannis and that hurt them the most, said MPJ’s injury may have derailed him but “it’s going to turn for him,” said they wanted the same call with fouls on drives, said the Pistons are waiting for them and the Pistons are playing some of the best basketball in the league, said “I have no idea” on who will play and he will talk to the training staff about it.

Bickerstaff quotes: Said they came to play and they knew it was a tough challenge against the Celtics, said their defense was excellent and they had a “point to prove”, joked that Beasley is ruining the younger generation because the kids want to do the shimmy after a 3-pointer instead of getting back on defense, said Ausar was just cramping and they’ll see how he feels on Thursday.

Stats and Notes: 

*The Pistons are too good. During their eight-game winning streak, they have the No. 1 defense in the NBA. In February they’re fourth in defense and in 2025 they’re second in defensive rating. They just held the Celtics to a season-low 18 rim points to drop the Pistons to the No. 2 rim defense in the league on the year. It’s a remarkable turnaround from a team that gave up the seventh-most points at the rim last year. They’re awesome, and check out the pod for more thoughts/stats on the Pistons. The Nuggets are on a tough B2B after a national TV game, and they could easily sit out Aaron Gordon or Jamal Murray here. The Nuggets live at the basket, so this matchup isn’t ideal for them on a B2B.

Great matchups: Cade Cunningham, Tim Hardaway Jr.

Good matchups: Michael Porter Jr., Malik Beasley

Bad matchups: Jamal Murray, Aaron Gordon

Oklahoma City Thunder at Atlanta Hawks