AUBURN HILLS, Mich. _ Whatever message Stan Van Gundy delivered, the Detroit Pistons received.
Earlier in the week, the Pistons couldn't defend. They had no energy against the Nets. No scoring. Nothing.
"We weren't ready to play," Van Gundy said on Wednesday night.
After the loss, the veteran coach was especially critical of Andre Drummond.
Three nights later, Drummond responded and his teammates followed suit. Wearing their chrome gray alternate uniforms, the Pistons sped past the Nuggets at the start and cruised to a 103-86 win, leading wire-to-wire.
Drummond starred, posting his third double-double in six games this season, scoring 19 points with 20 rebounds. More encouraging was Drummond's performance from the free-throw line, where he went 7-for-11.
Wilson Chandler led the Nuggets with 21 points off the bench.
The Pistons jumped out to a 6-0 lead and quickly upped the deficit to 16-2 a few minutes in. They led by double-digits for the vast majority of the game and weathered a shaky second quarter in which the Nuggets cut the lead to seven at halftime. It was a well-balanced scoring effort from the Pistons, with six players in double digits. They shot 48.2 percent from the field.
Marcus Morris and Jon Leuer added 15 points each for the Pistons (4-2). Leuer's 15 points were a season-high. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope scored 13 points and Stanley Johnson had his best game of the season.
Johnson, who totaled six points this season coming into the game, scored 12 points on 5-for-7 shooting.
The Pistons went 7-for-20 from 3-point range and held the Nuggets (2-3) to a 33 percent shooting percentage. Led by Drummond, they dominated in the paint, scoring 38 points.
Drummond had three blocks, all in the first quarter, hitting the 500-block milestone. Previous Pistons with 500 blocks are Bill Laimbeer, Bob Lanier, Ben Wallace, Rasheed Wallace, Terry Tyler and John Salley.
It was Drummond's third 20-rebound game of the season.
The Pistons responded to their worst game of the season with their best, and they head west for a four-game road trip against the Los Angeles Clippers, Phoenix Suns, San Antonio Spurs and Nuggets starting on Monday night.
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