The Detroit Pistons are a win away from clinching a playoff spot, a turnaround that has been one of the best and most unlikely stories in the NBA this season.
It hasn’t just been one thing, as the Pistons have been better from the top down, from better roster decisions to better coaching, to improvement from just about everyone on the team, including the young core.
Jalen Duren has been a big part of it even though his counting stats are down this year. He’s improved on defense, is blocking and contesting more shots on the rim and has been more efficient offensively even though his points are down slightly from last season.
He’s become even more important in recent games, as the Pistons have been shorthanded with injuries and suspensions.
Duren’s scoring can be an X-Factor for the Pistons, and when he is getting buckets, it’s usually a good sign for the offense, as Detroit is 15-6 in games in which Duren scores 15 or more points.
Unfortunately, those games haven’t come with more regularity and have mostly been against bad teams, an area where Duren has to improve.
Jalen Duren needs to assert himself against good teams
Most of Duren’s scoring outbursts have led to Pistons’ victories, but most of them have come against bad teams.
Of Duren’s 10 highest scoring games this season, nine of them have come against teams with a record below .500. If you extend that even further, only three of Duren’s top 20 highest scoring games this season have come against teams with winning records.
The exceptions were against Indiana, which still resulted in a Pistons’ loss, the win over Cleveland (which was maybe the best game of Duren's career) and the win over Houston.
Otherwise, Duren has mostly gotten fat on teams like the Pelicans, Spurs and Wizards and had most of his worst games against good teams.
Obviously, this is true of most players, but the great ones step up in the big games, not just against bad teams. Take Cade Cunningham, who has had six of his top 10 highest scoring games this season against quality teams with winning records.
Duren’s scoring has been gravy for the Pistons this season and they don’t rely on it heavily, but they are going to need him to have some of his best nights on the biggest stage if they want to clinch a playoff spot and advance past the first round.
One of the biggest factors is that Duren often gets in foul trouble against quality bigs, which will be a concern no matter who the Pistons play in the first round, as all three teams have stretch fives that have given him problems in the past.