If you just looked at the box score of last night’s game, you wouldn’t think the Detroit Pistons won, as they committed 22 turnovers against the Houston Rockets, 10 of them by Cade Cunningham.
But Cade also poured in 32 points, the Pistons dominated the boards and were able to rack up 28 fast-break points to make up for it. They held the Rockets to 39.4 percent shooting and to just 96 points on their home floor.
This is why you have to have a good defense to be sustainably good, as it is there for you on the nights when the offense isn’t.
The win put the Pistons to 22-21 overall and an impressive 12-10 on the road, where they often appear to come out with more focus and energy. Detroit is just 10-11 at home, so it’s possible the young Pistons are more comfortable in away arenas for whatever reason.
Considering Detroit won just 14 games total last season, racking up 12 road wins already is a huge boost, and they have four more big ones upcoming on the schedule.
NBA standings and the Detroit Pistons’ schedule
The Eastern Conference is chaotic at the moment, with the #6-9 teams either tied or within half a game of each other and at most two games away from the 5th-seed Pacers.
The Pistons will get their chance to move ahead of them on this road trip with upcoming games against the Hawks, Magic, Cavaliers and Pacers, three of which are tied with them or just ahead of Detroit in the standings.
The Pistons are looking solid for a play-in spot right now, with a 3.5-game cushion over 10th seed Chicago, but a few more wins on this road trip could propel them as high as 5th in the East.
Every game is going to be important in the second half of the season, which will be a welcome break from the last five years when the Pistons were tanking with a G-League team on the floor by this point.
The East is headed for a wild finish that could see 4-5 team’s fates decided on the last day.
Trick or treat Jalen Duren
Jalen Duren has to be one of the most difficult Pistons to evaluate, as he goes from looking like a guy they might need to trade to make a leap forward to a guy who looks untouchable at 21-years-old.
Last night was the latter, as Duren absolutely dominated Alperen Sengun, racking up 16 points, 14 rebounds, three assists, four steals and two blocks in one of the best all-around performances of his career.
Duren was active in passing lanes and on the glass, got a bunch of deflections of lazy Rocket passes (especially in the first half), ran the floor like he was possessed, and ripped down six offensive rebounds.
It’s always trick or treat with Duren, who has to string together efforts like this consistently. Duren even blocked a 3-point shot last night, which seemed impossible after watching him try to guard Myles Turner.
It’s all about effort with Duren, as we know he is going to make mistakes, which you can live with if he is playing hard and getting after it defensively.