On Wednesday night, Ben Gordon finally was the scoring machine that Pistons fans expected when he arrived from Chicago.
But for even the hottest Piston, it all went wrong at the end.
Gordon scored 45 points and matched his NBA record by hitting all nine of his 3-pointers, but a late defensive mistake and a miss at the buzzer turned Detroit's sensational comeback into a brutal 116-115 defeat to Denver.
"We fought back so hard, and I'm so proud of this team, but we just didn't finish it off," Gordon said. "On the biggest play of the game, even when I have that many points, it is disappointing to end it like that."
After trailing by as many as 25, Detroit led 115-112 in the final seconds. Denver set up for a final possession, and Gordon was supposed to foul former Piston Arron Afflalo, putting him on the line for two shots. Instead, he waited too long, and Afflalo managed to lay the ball into the basket as the officials blew the whistle.
"When he got the ball in the lane, I was just going to let him go, but everyone was yelling for me to foul," Gordon said. "I should have just gone with my instincts and let him have the two points, or at least wrapped him up so he couldn't shoot. Either would have been better than what I did."
Pistons coach Lawrence Frank wasn't sure if Gordon deserved the blame, but agreed that the play should have been made earlier.
"It was a perfect situation for us," he said. "We were just either a beat late with the foul or the refs were a beat late with the call."
It looked like Gordon's mistake would force overtime, but there was another bizarre twist. Afflalo missed the free throw, but Greg Monroe slipped going for the rebound. That allowed JaVale McGee an uncontested putback dunk, giving the Nuggets the lead with five seconds to play.
Gordon missed a contested jumper at the buzzer, and the Nuggets walked away with a victory that seemed alternately inevitable and impossible earlier in the night. If Detroit had hung on, the 25-point rally would have been the biggest winning comeback in team history.
"Sometimes you have to experience a little bit of hell before you can get to heaven," Frank said. "We put ourselves in a position to win, but we also put ourselves in a position to lose."
Detroit needed every one of Gordon's 45 points to make up for a terrible start. Denver led 40-16 in the first quarter, and by as many as 25 early in the second, but Gordon singlehandedly got the Pistons back into the game. He scored a career-high 21 points in the second period and added 15 more in the third.
"Everyone was getting me the ball, and guys were laying hellacious screens for me," said Gordon, who also had eight assists. "I was just fortunate that everything was going down."
The game was tied at 91 going into the fourth, but between getting some rest and other players shooting, Gordon didn't get his next field-goal attempt until 5:13 remained.
It was an airball, but his next shot was his ninth straight 3-pointer, tying the record he already shared with Latrell Sprewell.
"He was freaking off the charts tonight, Frank said. "He didn't just make shots. He made plays. You can't say enough positive things about what he did."
More importantly, the 3 gave the Pistons a 112-109 lead with 2:51 to play. After the Nuggets scored, Brandon Knight hit a 3-pointer — Detroit's third straight triple, all by different players.
Knight followed by forcing a turnover, but turned it over on the other end. Al Harrington split a pair of free throws to pull Denver within 115-112, and Tayshaun Prince missed a game-clinching shot with 12 seconds left.
That set up Denver's bizarre final possession, in which Gordon, Afflalo and Monroe each made key mistakes in the matter of seconds.
"We're getting closer," Frank said. "We're just not there."
