Vince Ellis

Detroit Free Press

DENVER -- Detroit Pistons coach Stan Van Gundy had a curt answer when asked Wednesday night about his rotation at point guard.

Starter Brandon Jennings received only 20 minutes in the season-opening 89-79 loss to the Denver Nuggets. He exited the game for good at the 2:23 mark of the third quarter and was replaced by D.J. Augustin, who logged 28 minutes.

"I thought he was playing better than Brandon, I guess," Van Gundy said after his first game roaming the Pistons' sideline.

He has a point there. Jennings didn't look aggressive and only put up four shots in scoring four points. He also had two assists. Augustin had 15 points and six assists.

"The answer is you're going with the guys who give you the best chance to win," Van Gundy explained later. "(Jennings) wasn't in the paint a whole lot. I wasn't really upset with him.

"I just thought we were getting a little bit more out of D.J.'s pick-and-rolls for a big part of the game."

Still, Jennings admitted that he was surprised by the turn of events.

"A little surprising," he said. "Never happened before in my career. But hey, it is what it is. We've just got to keep pushing through it.

"We really wasn't moving the ball enough. It was always one pass. I felt like we just needed to move the ball side-to-side. I mean, it was a game they were trying to give us. They shot 35%; we shot (better). So we were right there."

Jennings avoided controversy, saying it was only one game.

"It's not my decision," Jennings said. "I'm not the coach. He makes the decisions, and we just have to roll with it and live with it."

Contact Vince Ellis: vellis@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @vincent_ellis56.