--C Nene has seen his offense surprisingly fall off. Nene has averaged just 8.3 points the past three games. His average has dropped to 13.3. The Nuggets need Nene to score more with forward Kenyon Martin having missed the past two games due to injury. At least Nene's rebounding has been solid. He's averaging 10.5.

--F Joey Graham got his second straight start Thursday at Detroit in place of Kenyon Martin, out with a pinkie injury. It marked Graham's third start of the season, the other also in place of an injured Martin. Graham scored four points in 18 minutes. But he didn't have a single rebound, which hampered the Nuggets in a 101-99 loss. He started at power forward rather than at his natural position of small forward.

--C Johan Petro played a surprising 11 minutes Thursday at Detroit. It was just the seventh game Petro has played all season and his first stint of more than six minutes. With the Nuggets without power forward Kenyon Martin and Detroit having some big bodies, Nuggets coach George Karl turned to the team's only 7-footer. But he didn't provide much, going scoreless, grabbing two rebounds and picking up three fouls.

MEDICAL WATCH:

--F Malik Allen was active Thursday at Detroit after not accompanying the team to Tuesday's game at Charlotte due to illness. Although available to play, he didn't.

--F Kenyon Martin suffered a dislocated left pinkie Monday at Philadelphia and missed his second straight game Thursday at Detroit. He is listed as day-to-day.