DENVER _ The Detroit Pistons missed their first nine shots on the way to a nine-point first quarter.
The Denver Nuggets ended the second quarter on a 22-5 run to take a 27-point halftime lead.
The Nuggets needed that huge lead.
The Nuggets had to hold off a late Pistons rally in taking a 95-92 victory Tuesday night at the Pepsi Center.
A Reggie Jackson 3-pointer with 11.2 seconds left cut the deficit to 93-92.
Andre Drummond took a foul (his sixth) against Nuggets guard Jamal Murray.
Murray, who finished with 33 points, made two free throws with 9.1 seconds left.
The Pistons were out of timeouts, but ran a play that freed Blake Griffin for an open corner 3-pointer.
He missed and time expired.
The Pistons have lost six of nine and their once seemingly safe playoff position is suddenly in jeopardy.
The Pistons (37-37) fall to seventh in the Eastern Conference playoff chase, but the hard-charging Orlando Magic (37-38) won at Miami and moved to eighth and are within a half-game of the Pistons, setting up a showdown at Little Caesars Arena on Thursday.
The Heat (36-38) is only one game back and the Pistons are struggling while the rest of the competition for the final three playoff spots are playing with energy and surging at the right time of the year.
The Pistons were able to stage the comeback by holding the holding the Nuggets (50-23) to 29 points in the second half.
Griffin scored 29 points, but was 13-for-32 from the field as the Pistons shot 35.3 percent.
No Piston who played more than five minutes shot 50 percent from the field.
Nuggets center Nikola Jokic scored 23 points.
Pistons center Andre Drummond scored 13 points, grabbed 18 rebounds, blocked two shots and added two steals, although he suffered through a nightmarish 5-for-15 shooting night with many misses around the rim.
The first possession told the tale for the Pistons.
After a well-designed sequence, Griffin missed a layup.
He gathered the offensive rebound.
He missed again.
He tried to tip in the miss.
Nope.
The Pistons were well on their way to a nine-point first quarter, by far their worst opening frame of the season.
It was one point better than the eight points scored in the third quarter of a loss at Miami.
The Pistons shot 13.8 percent in the first quarter.
