Nikola Jokić and the Denver Nuggets face off with the Houston Rockets in the second half of our doubleheader on Peacock.
What we know about Monday night’s games:
Our Peacock doubleheader features Pistons-Celtics (7 ET), as they run it back after Boston ended Detroit’s 13-game winning streak earlier this season, and Rockets-Nuggets (9:30 ET), featuring the top two offenses in the league.
The Grizzlies, 7-3 in their last 10, seek to continue their winning ways against the Clippers (10:30 ET).
Anthony Davis is questionable for the Mavericks.
6:15 PM / DECEMBER 15, 2025
Jaylen Brown ascends
Jaylen Brown’s baskets against the Detroit Pistons this season.
The energy has shifted.
Four-time All-Star Jaylen Brown is averaging career-highs in points (29.9 ppg) and assists (4.8 ast), as he steps to the fore of the Celtics’ offense while Jayson Tatum recovers from ACL surgery.
His efficiency has been as good as it’s ever been (49.9 FG%, tied for the best of his career) and the Celtics are thriving, rising to third in the Eastern Conference.
Brown has been a rock. He’s part of all five lineups that have logged 18+ minutes for Boston this season, providing playmaking, athleticism, defense and devastating isolation scoring, and second in the league in usage percentage (35.3).
JB isolates on 5.4 possessions per game, averaging 5.3 points per game per game on the action. No other player isolates on more than three plays per game or averages more than 4.5 points on them.
If the Celtics offense is struggling, the ball will find Jaylen.
He’s a workhorse (fifth in total points with 699), boasting a versatile offensive game. Jaylen’s comfortable getting to the rim, rocking into his rhythm for a midrange jumper (11.0 ppg on pull-up jumpers, third in the NBA), or stepping back to launch from deep (36.3 percent from three).
His teammates find open shots playing off him. Nine of the top 21 players in the league in scoring on spot-up shots are his fellow Celtics.
Tatum and Brown regularly played one-on-one as young players. That experience is evident in his game today, as are his years of playoff basketball experience.
“He never wavers in the poise or the mindset that he has,” Coach Joe Mazzulla said earlier this season. “He does a great job of that regardless of how it’s going.”
5:15 PM / DECEMBER 15, 2025
Welcome to a five-game night in the NBA!
Cade Cunningham and the Detroit Pistons take on the Boston Celtics in the opening half of tonight’s doubleheader on Peacock.
We’ve got a dynamite doubleheader tonight on Peacock, featuring Pistons-Celtics (7 ET) and Rockets-Nuggets (9:30 ET), highlighting the action.
In the national TV opener, the Pistons will travel to Boston seeking revenge after the Celtics snapped their franchise record-tying 13 game winning streak 117-114 on Nov. 26, en route to a 7-3 record in their last 10 games.
Detroit, sitting at the top of the East with a 20-5 record, is also 7-3 in their last 10. They defeated the Celtics 119-113 on Oct. 26.
Cade Cunningham (26.9 ppg, 6.1 reb, 9.1 ast, 1.5 stl) and Jaylen Brown (29.9 ppg, 6.1 reb, 4.8 ast) are sitting at No. 4 and No. 5, respectively, in the latest Kia MVP Ladder.
Who will win in this clash of traditional Eastern Conference powers?
In the nightcap, the West’s top two-ranked offenses face off (124.4 offense rating for Denver vs 121.4 for Houston).
The Nuggets are running the best assist-to-turnover ratio (2.2) and effective field goal percentage in the league (59.4), while the Rockets have the league-leading offensive rebounding percentage (41.5), as well as the second-best defensive rating (111.0).
Denver took the initial clash between these Western contenders 112-109 Nov. 22 behind 34 points, 10 rebounds and 9 assists from Nikola Jokić.
Jokić’s averaged 21.1 points, 11 rebounds and 7 assists against the Rockets in his career, logging the second-fewest minutes per game (29.1) and grabbing the second-most offensive rebounds (3.3) against Houston.
He’ll battle rising star Alperen Sengun (23.0 ppg, 9.4 reb, 7.0 ast) and Steven Adams (9.1 reb) in the pivot tonight on Peacock.
Here’s the complete slate: