Greg Monroe embarrasses Nuggets in easy win

73. Final. 98. 64. 88

D.J. AUGUSTIN. A. Augustin looked like a clone of his counterpart, Ty Lawson. While neither point guard had much of any success defending the other, Augustin played a bit better. Since he’s getting paid about 25% of what Lawson is, that’s a big win for D.J.<p class=. PG. Pistons

D. It was nice to see Caldwell-Pope back in the startnig lineup so quickly. It would have been even nicer if he could have played well.. SG. Pistons. KENTAVIOUS CALDWELL-POPE

SF. Pistons. KYLE SINGLER. D-. Besides building a house of bricks, Singler provided no resistance to any Denver wings. Lucky for him, they weren’t really on their offensive games and capitalized minimally. But Gallinari did get in his best game yet since returning from his most recent injury eight contests ago.

PF. Pistons. GREG MONROE. A+. I continue to be baffled by the lack of respect Monroe gets from Piston fans. Gone are the days of regularly making no-name opponents look like all-stars. Monroe just kept on piling on the hapless Nuggets. His assertive and efficient 21-21 was the primary reason the Pistons didn’t have to care as Denver mounted a late comeback. Monroe had kicked them down too many times for a late surge to be meaningful.<p class=

B+. Drummond did a good job in a supporting role in this one, posting his own 13-13. He was even boxing out regularly, although to little effect as Nurkic continually shoved him in the back without drawing whistles.. C. Pistons. ANDRE DRUMMOND

B-. Meeks has really been struggling with his deep shot lately. Tonight was no exception as he missed all four three point attempts. On the plus side, he attempted twice as many twos without a miss.. SG. Pistons. JODIE MEEKS

SF. Pistons. CARON BUTLER. F. If not for gravity, I’m not convinced Butler could have hit the floor. His shooting was awful, his defense non-existent, and he couldn’t hang on to the ball either.

Jerebko looked lackluster out there. His value comes more from his fire and determination and energy than from his skill level, so it’s no surprise he didn’t get much playing time.. PF. Pistons. JONAS JEREBKO. D

ANTHONY TOLLIVER. D+. Tolliver’s shooting was off, especially from deep. But no PIstons were any good from long range in this one. He rebounded well and committed some smart fouls, at least.. PF. Pistons

JOEL ANTHONY. Inc. Anthony played less than three minutes. He had no impact.. C. Pistons

B+. Lucas, along with Meeks, pretty much carried the bench. With 50% shooting and five assists to zero turnovers in 14 minutes, Lucas continues to make the most of his 10-day contract. Expect him to stick around longer.. PG. Pistons. JOHN LUCAS

B. Van Gundy didn’t have to work too hard in this one. The Nuggets are flailing lately and Monroe was having his way with them.. Head Coach. Pistons. STAN VAN GUNDY