3 takeaways from Detroit Pistons’ frustrating loss to the Denver Nuggets

The Detroit Pistons kept battling back but were unable to execute down the stretch in a frustrating loss to the Denver Nuggets.

Detroit played Denver tough all game, coming back from multiple double-digit leads to tie the game with 1:45 remaining on a Cory Joseph floater.

Joseph hit two clutch shots down the stretch, but also committed two turnovers that ultimately cost the Pistons a chance to tie or win the game.

Isaiah Stewart had one of his best games of the season and flashed the jumper we’ve all been waiting for, and the Pistons had four different guys score 18 points, including Cade Cunningham, Trey Lyles, Joseph and Beef Stew, who didn’t miss a shot in eight attempts.

Nikola Jokic carried the Nuggets, especially in the first half, where he was involved in just about every one of their baskets as either the scorer or passer.

Seriously, is there anyone in the NBA who does more with less than Jokic? The guy does pretty much everything on offense for the Nuggets, who would undoubtedly be a lottery team without him.

It was a game the Detroit Pistons had a chance to win on the road, but they squandered it once again.

Here are three takeaways.

Detroit Pistons: Turnovers were key to the game

Detroit turned the ball over a whopping 22 times against the Nuggets and just about everyone got involved.

Cunningham had six, a problem he’s had all year, most of them when he got into the paint and jumped before he knew what he was going to do with the ball, leading to forced passes that got away.

Cade needs to be more patient in these situations and keep his dribble. It’s something he could learn from Cory Joseph, who is good at getting into the paint, keeping his dribble and letting the play develop around him.

Of course, CoJo dribbles too much at times and had two costly turnovers down the stretch after the Pistons had tied.

Detroit turned the ball over three times to end the game, and two of them had made 3-point shots that were waived off because of it.

Clean up a few of those ugly turnovers and the Detroit Pistons probably win this game, something the young team is going to have to learn how to do if they want to start turning close losses into wins.