The Detroit Pistons are two games away from their first Eastern Conference Finals appearance since 2008, and it's still not a big enough reason to celebrate.
Detroit's 2-0 lead should offer signs of encouragement, but it's hard to trust a team that merely survived an 8-seeded Orlando Magic squad, especially if the series against the Cleveland Cavaliers comes down to the Jalen Duren-Evan Mobley matchup like ESPN's Vince Goodwill suggests it will.
Goodwill made an early prediction in a recent appearance on Brian Windhorst and The Hoop Collective podcast, where he suggested that the winner of this series could be decided by the battle in the frontcourt.
And if that truly is the case, the Pistons may be entering a dangerous stretch where they can't play with fire, even with a 2-0 series lead.
Vince Goodwill puts Jalen Duren vs. Evan Mobley in the spotlight
Goodwill started his thoughts off by saying the quiet part out loud, highlighting how frustrating of a postseason start it's been for Duren up to this point.
"I think you look at Jalen Duren and you can say that his postseason has been underwhelming to this point, especially for a guy who's up for restricted free agency and going to ask for a lot of money, this is the place where you earn it, " Goodwill said.
Capping his thoughts off with how Duren's Game 1 performance was close to being another abysmal showing before a five-minute stretch where he seemingly came alive, the ESPN writer suggested that the frontcourt matchup will determine this series.
"I think that matchup [Duren vs. Mobley] is going to determine this series, and I still have stock in Evan Mobley.
And if that's the case, Detroit fans should be on high alert.
Mobley has a higher chance of turning things around before Duren
Through the first two games in this series, Mobley is averaging 11.5 points, 5.0 rebounds and 4.5 assists, while shooting 47.6% from field goal range and 33.3% from beyond the arc.
As for Duren, averaging 9.5 points and 11.0 rebounds on 33.3% shooting from the floor continues his trend of offensive struggles that have overshadowed his impact on the boards.
If this series truly will come down to which of these big men will be able to snap out of their slump, the Pistons may want to capitalize on their early series lead, because if Mobley can catch fire, the Cavaliers become a much more dangerous threat than they already are.
Unlike Duren, Mobley's first-round series offered more promise, especially considering the USC product strung together multiple 20+ point performances, where he proved capable of being a monster on the boards and a reliable facilitator in Kenny Atkinson's offense.
Considering the Cavaliers' forward has the skillset where he can break out of his two-game slump at any time, the Pistons have no room for error based on the fact that Duren's rough patch has extended throughout every game since the postseason began.
For Detroit, closing out this series sooner rather than later has never been more important because the last thing they want to happen after prematurely extending J.B. Bickerstaff is being on the wrong end of a series comeback.
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