The Pistons fell to a 3-1 deficit against the Magic with yet another dud performance from starting center Jalen Duren. Backup center Isaiah Stewart continues to outperform Duren, but isn't getting the same opportunities or minutes. At this point in the series, there's plenty of evidence that Stewart is a better matchup against the Magic but he still gets subbed out in important stretches for the disappointing Duren.
The Pistons need to give Isaiah Stewart more minutes
Stewart was absolutely dominant on defense in Game 4. He had a mind-boggling 8 blocks in just 17 minutes, putting on an absolute clinic of rim protection whenever he touched the court. With that production, it's not wonder that the Pistons won when Stewart was on the court; he was a +5 in his minutes.
Even without any consistent offensive threats on the bench, Stewart led the backup unit to success with his defensive presence. He not only took away the Magic's most valuable shot attempts, but also kickstarted fastbreaks with his highlight rejections. The Pistons struggled heavily in the halfcourt, so Stewart's contributions towards their transition attack were tremendously valuable.
And Stewart isn't a complete liability on offense either. He hit one of only 6 made threes for the Pistons in the game, providing some spacing even from the center position. In addition, he's a great screen setter capable of freeing up teammates and keeping misses alive with his offensive rebounding efforts.
Jalen Duren hasn't earned his minutes over Stewart
The logic for giving Duren more minutes than Stewart has always been Duren's advantages on offense. But Duren hasn't done anything noteworthy on that end throughout this series, struggling as a scorer and even screen-setter. When he's been on the court, the Pistons offense has struggled and Cade Cunningham has still been asked to do too much.
If Duren can't be a postive on offense, there is no reason for him to play nearly twice as many minutes as Stewart. In Game 4, Duren was a -11 in his 31 minutes while only producing 12 points and 8 rebounds. He's been nothing close to his All-Star self from the regular season, and clearly needs a huge wake-up call.
Giving Stewart a more even split of the center minutes can both keep a better performer on the court for the Pistons and give Duren the motivation he needs to step up. The politics of their respective regular season performances will likely make it impossible for Stewart to replace Duren as a starter, but the minutes distribution clearly needs some adjustment. If the Pistons have any chance to come back in this series, they will need much more of Isaiah Stewart on the floor.
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