Detroit Pistons at Denver Nuggets
The Denver Nuggets realized just how fragile their interior is with a 107-95 loss to the Charlotte Bobcats Tuesday night. The Nuggets took the floor without veteran power forward Kenyon Martin, who is nursing a dislocated finger.
Without Martin cleaning up the boards, Denver was out-rebounded 43-35 and allowed 14 offensive boards to the Bobcats. Martin is averaging just under eight rebounds per game and is the Nuggets top defensive forward, averaging 1.4 steals and blocks per game.
Charlotte power forward Gerald Wallace had five of those boards on the offensive glass and led the way with 25 points. Martin would have made a much better matchup on the athletic leaper, leaving flat-footed Joey Graham and Renaldo Balkman to share the defensive duties.
Detroit may be scrambling to replace its injured stars, but the one constant has been the work on the glass. The Pistons are the fourth-best offensive rebounding team in the NBA, pulling in over 12 boards on the offensive glass a night. Forward Ben Wallace is still an elite rebounder while the big bodies of Jason Maxiell, Charlie Villanueva and Jonas Jerebko can cause chaos under the rim.
Pick: Detroit
Boston Celtics at Washington Wizards (+7.5, 193)
While Boston boasts its Big Three, Washington also has an all-star trio in Gilbert Arenas, Caron Butler and Antawn Jamison. That three-pronged attack has combined for more than 57 points a game – 59 percent of the Wizards’ nightly offense.
But that offensive output isn’t enough for point-producing head coach Flip Saunders, who is trying to get Washington to improve its tempo. During practice this week, the Wizards worked on quick transition from defensive rebounding to pushing the ball.
“We haven't had as much of a thrust with the ball,” Saunders told reporters. “We want [Arenas] to be aggressive with the ball, whether it's scoring or distributing, but we cannot walk the ball up the court. That's something we've really been trying to work on, from the beginning of training camp. If there is a miss, we shouldn't be in any sort of set play. We haven't done as a good a job as we need to.”
Washington has scored 22 fastbreak points in each of their last two games – both losses. On the year, the Wizards average just under 12 points on the fastbreak and Saunders believes that with the team’s firepower and rebounding, they should be able to beat opponents down the floor before the defense can set up.
They have averaged over 93 possessions per game which is 13th in the NBA. The coaching staff wants to limit the long jumpers and three-point attempts after Washington shot under 44 percent from the field and 31 percent from beyond the arc.
“When you don't score and you fall behind, you take the path of least resistance, which is usually three-point shots,” Saunders said. “That's the easiest one to get off, because that's the one they don't guard as much. There is a reason they don't guard that. You just have to do more things to almost exert our will and where we want to get the ball at the spots we want to get it to.”
Saunders didn’t mention the team’s porous defense, which is allowing more than 100 points per game. Washington faces one of the deepest and explosive offenses in the NBA, in Boston, which is riding an eight-game winning streak.
Pick: Over
