Detroit Pistons news: One promising stat and Jalen Duren

The Detroit Pistons loss to the Utah Jazz last night was their third straight and once again their defense fell apart in the second half.

The Pistons are once again the NBA’s worst team, percentage points below the Charlotte Hornets in the Eastern Conference.

But there have been some signs of things turning around even though the Pistons are missing Cade Cunningham and Jaden Ivey had been struggling mightily up until the last two games.

Detroit is starting to play more competitively and they are getting big progress from rookie Jalen Duren, who is putting himself in some elite company.

Detroit Pistons: Close losses

The Detroit Pistons lost by 15 points to the Jazz last night against a Utah team that was on the second game of a back-to-back, so there won’t be any participation trophies awarded for that one even though Jaden Ivey dropped 30 points (pad those stats) and Jalen Duren had 15 points and 14 rebounds.

Detroit has now lost 25 games, most in the NBA by two more than anyone in the East and four more than any team in the West.

However, the majority of those games have been within shouting distance, as 14 of their losses have been by single digits. When you consider that Detroit has had arguably the toughest schedule in the NBA with the most games overall and the most back-to-backs, the fact that they’ve been semi-close in that many is actually a good sign, especially since Cade Cunningham has been missing for most of them.

Wins and losses are secondary to development and competitiveness this season, so it is nice to see the Pistons not getting blown out every night even though they are young and shorthanded.

Jalen Duren is the best rookie center

After last night’s performance, Jalen Duren now leads all rookies in double doubles with six, pretty impressive considering he’s only recently been playing starter’s minutes.

He’s averaging 13.7 rebounds over the last seven games, a number that would lead the league if accomplished over an entire season. Duren is just 29th in the NBA in rebounding overall this season, but he has played just 23 minutes per game on average, far less than anyone ahead of him on the list.

Duren has played just over 29 minutes per game since becoming a starter, and as he gets more reps, he has a chance to finish the season in the top-10 in rebounding, which is impressive for a rookie who is the youngest player in the NBA.

He now has at least 11 rebounds in seven straight games, which has tied the record for teenagers set by Dwight Howard, who did it in this second season in the league.

It may seem like grasping at straws, but in a rebuilding year, it’s good to at least see the team competing more regularly (last night notwithstanding) and getting big production from their rookie center.