Detroit Pistons: Jalen Duren learning, creating highlights in ugly loss

The Detroit Pistons’ Wednesday night in Cleveland was one to forget. Let’s look to the positives in a night where, well, there weren’t many.

Rookie center Jalen Duren has been showing his freakish athletic ability all season, and continued to do so against the Cavs.

Duren scored 14 points on 6-for-8 from the field, along with nine rebounds and two assists. Five of his nine boards came off of the offensive glass. He also added three blocks.

Debatably, the most impressive aspect of Duren’s game however, was his ability to stay out of foul trouble against Cleveland’s strong frontcourt. He picked up two fouls in the first quarter, then kept his composure and went the rest of the game without picking up another.

This is something that rookies, especially rookie bigs, tend to struggle with. Seeing Duren show the ability to keep himself on the floor after picking up early fouls is promising. Especially against a Jarrett Allen-Evan Mobley tandem.

Detroit Pistons: Jalen Duren is a highlight reel

The Detroit Pistons have a human highlight reel on their hands with Jalen Duren. It seems that he’s good for at least one poster dunk or swat into the stands each time he steps out onto the floor. Wednesday night was no exception to that.

Duren’s highlight of the night came off of a dime sent from a Killian Hayes laser. He somehow gets his hands on the pass, gathers and fends off Mobley prior to dunking all over Allen.

This was a bit of a defensive lapse from Cleveland. Mobley and Allen start ball watching which creates some confusion, Duren takes advantage by sneaking closer to the basket, then Hayes makes the right play to make them pay.

Duren also showed off his developing fadeaway moves in the post. This shot is something that we have seen Duren pull out of his bag numerous times thus far, and would be a tremendous addition for the Pistons’ long haul.

Being able to pull out a move like this on Cleveland’s Allen, one of the league’s best centers, is truly something special.

Duren’s rim protection was one of the lone bright spots for Detroit on Wednesday, as well. Here, he helps out Bojan Bogdanovic who gets beat by Cleveland forward Cedi Osman after a ball screen. Osman quickly drives to the hoop for what I’m assuming he thought of as an easy runner, only to have his shot swatted back to center court by Duren.

Additionally, Duren’s finishing ability is something to take home from an otherwise poor team performance.

Shooting 75% from the field on the night, he pulled out some crafty moves at the rim to get off clean shot attempts, showing a layup package on top of the strong slams.

Overall, Duren had a nice game in many facets. He made an impact at the rim, on the glass as well as scoring the ball. He was one point away from being tied for Detroit’s leading scorer on the night, which isn’t usual for the young fella.

Refining his game even in an overall poor team performance is nice to see from the rookie.

The night may have been a total loss for the Pistons. But, it wasn’t for the development of Duren.