Pistons Notes: Game 6 Win, Bench, Duren, Cunningham
The Pistons shook off their Game 5 collapse with a convincing road victory in Cleveland on Friday night, forcing a decisive Game 7 in Detroit on Sunday night. It’s the fourth time this postseason the Pistons have delivered in an elimination game.
“They just don’t quit,” Pistons coach J.B. Bickerstaff said of his team, per Jamal Collier of ESPN. “The resolve that they have, the belief that they have in one another. They just have the ability to bounce back mentally where they don’t hang on to things.”
The Pistons pulled away by holding the Cavaliers to 29% shooting in the second half and 39% overall.
“I just think you got to look at the backgrounds of this group,” guard Daniss Jenkins said. “I’m not supposed to be in this position according to everybody in the league. I just think we’re special. We just want to defy all the odds. We not taking [anything] from [anybody]. We know it’s us against the world.”
Here’s more on the Pistons:
- Reserves Marcus Sasser, Paul Reed and Caris LeVert delivered in dynamite fashion in Game 6, Omari Sankofa II of the Detroit Free Press notes. They combined for 34 points, 10 rebounds and five assists. Sasser, who had been out of the rotation, played 18 minutes and Detroit outscored Cleveland by 27 points during his court time. “That was the plan,” Bickerstaff said. “We have so much depth. Obviously, foul trouble changed a couple of things for us, but we just trust these guys and trust the depth that we have and that they can go out and make an impact. Guys like Sass, in the two years we’ve been here, has proven that when his number’s called, he’s prepared and he goes out and can give us buckets, defend at a high level. I thought he was great tonight. Up and down the roster, I thought we had great production, great intensity.”
- All-Star center Jalen Duren, the subject of heavy criticism during this postseason, posted a double-double in Game 6 with 15 points and 11 rebounds. He added three blocks, equaling his total from the first five games of the series. “My confidence never wavered in myself. I know what I can do. I know what I can be and try to keep it rolling,” Duren said, per Joe Reedy of The Associated Press. “I’m playing my best basketball when I’m being assertive and picking my spots. I think early on I was just getting a groove.”
- The Pistons are looking forward to having a raucous atmosphere for Game 7 at Little Caesars Arena, Cade Cunningham told Bob Wojnarowski of the Detroit News. “It’s gonna be a madhouse in there, the crowd’s gonna come to play as well,” Cunningham said. “They want to insert themselves in the game, so it’s gonna be a fun environment.”
Bontemps/Windhorst’s Latest: Pistons, Giannis, Kawhi, More
After averaging 22.6 points and 10.7 rebounds per game on 67.8% shooting following the All-Star break, Pistons center Jalen Duren has struggled to make an impact during the postseason. Duren is putting up just 10.1 PPG and 8.3 RPG through 12 playoff games and was benched in the fourth quarter and overtime of Detroit’s Game 5 loss on Wednesday in favor of Paul Reed.
Duren’s poor postseason play has the potential to complicate his contract negotiations with the Pistons when he reaches restricted free agency this summer, notes ESPN’s Brian Windhorst.
“He’s not a max player, but they’re probably going to have to give him the max,” one Eastern Conference executive told ESPN. “Because now teams (with cap room) like Chicago or Brooklyn might see him as someone they could get with a max offer sheet and Detroit will have to match. With the new apron rules, it might come back to bite (the Pistons), and it’s just another example of how the CBA crushes team building.”
The Pistons will also face a tricky negotiation this offseason with wing Ausar Thompson, who will be eligible for a rookie scale extension ahead of his fourth NBA season. Thompson is a defensive dynamo but remains a very limited offensive player who made six three-pointers all season and converted just 57.1% of his free throws. Like Duren, he has been benched in some clutch-time situations during the postseason.
Still, according to ESPN’s Tim Bontemps, some league insiders he spoke to about Thompson predicted the Defensive Player of the Year finalist could command an extension in the range of $25MM per year, the same average annual salary that Dyson Daniels (four years, $100MM) and Christian Braun (five years, $125MM) got on their rookie scale extensions last fall.
Here’s more league-wide chatter from Windhorst and Bontemps:
- While there have been a few false alarms on the Giannis Antetokounmpo trade front, there’s a growing belief around the NBA that the Bucks will actually trade their two-time MVP this offseason, Bontemps reports. “It just feels like they’re done with the circus, more than anything,” an Eastern Conference executive told ESPN. “They seem to want a clean break and to move on.”
- Most sources who spoke to Bontemps at this week’s draft combine in Chicago about the Clippers and Kawhi Leonard believe the team should retain its star forward as he enters the final year of his current contract. However, not everyone agreed on whether or not to extend him — one scout pointed out that Leonard “clearly” wants to be in L.A. and argued the club should be no rush to lock him up, while another expressed that an extension is the right move as long as the terms “make sense for the team.” One Eastern Conference executive also suggested to Windhorst that Leonard could have significant trade value if the Clippers are willing to make him available: “Every day you hear about what’s going to happen with Giannis, but everyone ignores that Kawhi has been better and healthier over the last two seasons. If you had a chance to acquire one or the other, I might go Kawhi.”
- Despite the fact that the Sixers have a pair of pricey multiyear contracts on their books for injury-prone veterans Joel Embiid and Paul George, their head of basketball operations job is viewed as “enticing” due to the Tyrese Maxey/VJ Edgecombe backcourt duo, several executives told Windhorst at the combine.
- The general consensus at the combine was that returning to the Lakers is the most likely outcome for LeBron James this summer, since it’s “hard to fit him anywhere” else, as one Western Conference scout told Bontemps. An East executive who spoke to Windhorst indicated he’d be willing to pay James whatever he wanted on a one-year deal if he were running the Lakers. “Give him the no-trade clause,” the exec said. “Everything (Lakers owner Mark) Walter has done so far has been about good business. LeBron sells tickets. He keeps the (local) TV partner happy. Re-signing LeBron is good business.”
Central Notes: Mitchell, Mobley, Duren, Edens
Star guard Donovan Mitchell made just 1-of-8 shots for four points in the first half of Game 4 on Monday as the Cavaliers faced a four-point deficit at halftime. However, Mitchell turned things around in a major way after the intermission, scoring 21 third-quarter points and leading Cleveland on a 22-0 run to open the second half, writes Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com (subscription required).
Mitchell added 18 more points in the fourth quarter for a total of 39 in the second half, tying Sleepy Floyd‘s playoff record for a single half. After the game, the Cavs veteran attributed his success in the last two quarters to “everybody having my back” after he struggled earlier in the night.
“They continued to understand that, hey, this is what you do,” Mitchell said. “They’re not really tripping on the fact that I started out one-of-whatever, so I think that helps.”
Mitchell had an opportunity to break Floyd’s record at the free throw line in the game’s final minute, but he made just one of two attempts and finished tied with the former Warriors guard. After the victory, Mitchell made it clear he wasn’t bothered by not being able to claim the record for himself.
“We won the game and we’re 2-2 going to Detroit,” Mitchell said. “Everybody let me know that I missed the free throw to break the record though. I will say that. But we’re 2-2 headed to Detroit. That was what we came home to do and that’s all that matters.”
We have more from out of the Central:
- While Mitchell was the star on offense for the Cavaliers in Game 4, head coach Kenny Atkinson was eager to heap praise on former Defensive Player of the Year Evan Mobley after the victory, as Fedor writes in another Cleveland.com story (subscription required). Mobley has faced some criticism in the postseason, especially after grabbing just one rebound in Cleveland’s Game 2 loss, but Atkinson has insisted that the big man’s impact goes well beyond the box score. “Evan Mobley was phenomenal,” the Cavs’ coach said on Monday. “That was the Defensive Player of the Year right there. I don’t know what the stats say, the traditional stats say, but we know within our locker room how great he’s playing. He affects winning on both ends. We should give a lot of flowers to Evan Mobley for tonight’s performance. Maybe the best I’ve seen him defensively.”
- While Mobley and Jarrett Allen thrived for Cleveland, Pistons center Jalen Duren struggled again in Game 4, registering just eight points and two rebounds. The big man, a restricted free agent this summer, is now averaging 9.5 PPG and 7.0 RPG in the series, and Detroit has been outscored when he’s on the court. “I’ve just gotta be better, man,” Duren said after the loss, per Omari Sankofa II of The Detroit Free Press (subscription required). “I have no excuses. I’m my biggest critic. I know what I’ve gotta do to be able to contribute to our team and our success, and I’m staying on myself about doing that no matter what the case may be. I’ve got great teammates, a great coaching staff. I know that as a group we’re going to come back stronger, I have no doubt about it.”
- Bucks co-owner Wes Edens is the victim of an alleged $1 billion extortion scheme, according to reports from James Fanelli and Corinne Ramey of The Wall Street Journal and Steven Martinez of The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Changli “Sophia” Luo faces federal blackmail and extortion charges after threatening to publicize explicit videos and photos of her and Edens after a brief affair. A spokesperson for Edens said the Bucks governor “expects to testify under oath at the upcoming trial.”
Pistons Notes: Bickerstaff, Duren, Jenkins, Game 1
The Pistons were the worst team in the league when J.B. Bickerstaff was hired as the head coach. In just two seasons, they have become a formidable force in the East, winning 60 regular season games and finishing as the No. 1 seed in the conference.
Much of the credit for that success goes to the players, especially Cade Cunningham, who catapulted himself into MVP conversations this season, but Bickerstaff’s approach and emphasis on playing with maximum effort and tenacity have been a massive part of setting the team’s identity, Hunter Patterson writes for The Athletic.
Beyond his grit-and-grind mentality, what makes Bickerstaff special is how he approaches his relationship with the team, as Patterson relays.
“Everybody feels like they can call him to talk about if they have problems with their girlfriend or if they need something for their kids,” Cunningham said. “He’s just a very selfless and supportive person. Having somebody like that who cares about you on the court and wants you to be great on the court, but then also actually cares about your life and your well-being off the court is huge.”
Bickerstaff was previously the coach of the Cavaliers, but he’s not bringing any baggage from his dismissal to this series, Chris Fedor writes for Cleveland.com (subscriber link). However, that doesn’t mean that his added familiarity with many of the players isn’t helpful when it comes to game planning.
“I just … I spent a lot of time with those guys,” he said, smiling.
We have more Pistons notes:
- After a rough first round against the Magic, in Game 1 against the Cavaliers, Jalen Duren once again looked like the star big man he has been all season, per Omari Sankofa II of the Detroit Free Press. Whether crashing the offensive boards, making momentum-building defensive plays, or hitting timely dunks, Duren made it hard for Cleveland’s big men to get comfortable on Tuesday. He said that one thing he learned in the series against Orlando was how much he can impact a game when the offense isn’t clicking, writes Larry Lage of the Associated Press. “My value is on the defensive end,” he said. “My value is crashing the glass. It doesn’t always have to be scoring for me.”
- Daniss Jenkins‘ breakout season has carried over into the playoffs, when he’s been asked to play major minutes in high-leverage situations, including 29 minutes in Game 1 against Cleveland. He repaid that confidence by scoring six points and adding three rebounds and a steal in the final three-and-a-half minutes of the game, Lage writes. It’s the latest accomplishment in a season full of them for the former undrafted free agent, who was on a two-way contract until February. “He’s been building for it all year,” teammate Duncan Robinson said. “His journey is unique, and it takes somebody with a special will and character to have that story. He has unshakeable confidence for someone who’s been overlooked his whole career, and he just wears it as a chip.”
- Bickerstaff believes that having to win three games in a row to advance past the first round helped the Pistons learn what it takes to survive in the playoffs, ESPN’s Jamal Collier writes. “You understand how to close and how to finish. How to get to your spots,” he said. “Then you grow belief that you can. That series did a lot of that for us.”
Bontemps/Windhorst’s Latest: Celtics, Harden, Towns, Duren
Celtics big man Neemias Queta enjoyed a breakout year in an increased role in 2025/26, making 75 starts in the middle and averaging new career highs in points (10.2), rebounds (8.4), assists (1.7), and blocks (1.3) per game while finishing fourth in Most Improved Player voting. Still, center is considered a position Boston will look to upgrade this summer, sources tell Tim Bontemps and Brian Windhorst of ESPN.
“Can Queta get you through 82 (games)?” one Western Conference scout said to ESPN. “Yes, but can he patchwork it through the playoffs? I think he keeps getting better, but there’s a ceiling. They have to get a higher-level center if they want to be considered serious contenders.”
The question is how the Celtics might be able to acquire a starting-caliber center after having moved so many of their larger, most tradable contracts last offseason. While the team should have some form of mid-level exception available, it’s not easy to add an impact free agent with that exception, especially since there’s no guarantee Boston will have access to the full non-taxpayer version of the MLE.
Here are a few more items of interest from Bontemps and Windhorst:
- Given their cap/apron situation, the Cavaliers will be incentivized to negotiate a new multiyear deal with James Harden that lowers his cap hit for 2026/27 rather than simply having him pick up his $42.3MM player option, Bontemps and Windhorst observe. “(That is the) best path to get under the apron without materially salary dumping,” one Eastern Conference executive said. “The Cavs will pay him more than he could get in free agency. They’ll probably work something out.” Sources tell ESPN that Harden and Cavs head coach Kenny Atkinson have established a strong working relationship.
- Karl-Anthony Towns technically has two years left on his contract after this season, but 2027/28 is a player option, so the Knicks big man looks like a prime offseason extension candidate. A deal could hinge on how the rest of New York’s playoff run goes, but Towns had another All-Star season in 2025/26 and has been excellent so far in the postseason. “They’re probably in a spot with KAT that they should either extend him or look to trade him,” an Eastern Conference executive told ESPN. “If this playoff run convinces everyone this is a good fit, maybe they can get him to take a little discount off his max like (Jalen) Brunson did and help them keep the core together.”
- Earning an All-NBA spot this spring would make Jalen Duren eligible for a Rose Rule contract worth up to 30% of the salary cap (instead of 25%), but Bontemps and Windhorst suggest the Pistons will probably be reluctant to go that high for the All-Star center. One Western Conference executive who spoke to ESPN speculated that Duren might not even get a standard (25%) max deal, pointing to an average annual salary around $35MM as a figure that might work. “What’s a number that could leave both sides uncomfortable?” that exec said. “That might be what it takes to ultimately get a deal done.”
Pistons Notes: Harris, Playoff Experience, Duren, Cunningham
A free agent after the season, Tobias Harris has shown the NBA world he still has plenty left in the tank. The Pistons forward averaged 21.6 points and 8.1 rebounds per game during the first-round series against Orlando, including 30 points in the decisive Game 7 on Sunday.
“Nobody can say (bleep) to me about Tobias Harris,” coach J.B. Bickerstaff said. “I mean, he is dependable, reliable (and) prepared for the moment. He’s a leader, he’s a great teammate, (and) he’s a great human being. He’s a high-level competitor. To show up tonight and do what he did when it was on the line the most, it’s just exceptional. I can come up with more adjectives if you want, but I think you get my drift.”
Teammates have enormous respect for the 33-year-old Harris, who has been instrumental in the franchise’s resurgence over the last two seasons.
“He’s the ultimate vet,” center Jalen Duren said. “He’s been in these types of games. He’s got a lot of playoff experience. You know, I think J.B. calls him his safety blanket or whatever, but I think he’s the safety blanket for the team. He’s a guy we can go to when we need a bucket. He’s just the ultimate vet, man. He’s just been that for us all season, so it’s nothing new.”
Here’s more on the Pistons:
- Harris said the team will benefit from the hard-fought first-round series heading into the conference semifinals against the Cavaliers. “One hundred percent [there are positives]. I said after the game that every series we learn,” Harris said. “We learn about ourselves as a group. It’s the playoffs. In my playoff experience, playoffs will put your team in a bunch of things you’re good at, and things that you have to get better at. We did a great job at just adjusting, figuring out ways to win games. Some of the [problems] were self-inflicted, but at the same time, we stayed composed and were able to understand the performances that we needed to win these games.”
- Duren had his best game of the series on Sunday. The fourth-year center, headed to restricted free agency this summer, racked up 15 points and 15 rebounds while anchoring the defense. “I know who I am, I know who the team is,” he said. “Outside noise is whatever it is. In our locker room we know who we are – as a team, as a group, as an organization. We don’t take this ‘dawg’ s–t lightly. We really feel like we’re dawgs. We feel like when our back is against the wall, the whole world counts us out, that now it’s time to go. Now it’s time to keep swinging. I never doubted anything. I never doubted the guys that I was going to war with. I never doubted the coaches. Never. Let’s keep going, let’s keep proving the world wrong.”
- Cade Cunningham posted averages of 32.4 points, 5.7 rebounds and 7.1 assists during the series. Cunningham, who suffered a collapsed lung late in the regular season, complimented the Magic for forcing his team to overcome adversity. “Playoff basketball is a lot of fun,” he said, per Keith Langlois of Pistons.com. “So intense, so much on the line. They pushed us, really made us take a look in the mirror. I think we got a lot better from this series. Learned a lot about myself, a lot about the team. This series really is going to set us up for our next series. We’ll be a lot better for it.”
Central Notes: Bulls, Lloyd, Nori, Reed, Pistons, Furphy
The Bulls have reportedly narrowed down their list of candidates for their head of basketball operations job to Matt Lloyd, Bryson Graham, Dennis Lindsey and Dave Lewin. Of those four finalists, Timberwolves general manager Lloyd is considered the frontrunner, a source confirms to Joe Cowley of The Chicago Sun-Times.
Lloyd, who grew up in the Chicago suburbs and got his NBA start with the Bulls, could be hired within the “next several days,” Cowley writes. Like Michael Scotto of HoopsHype, Cowley has heard Lloyd has a head coach in mind if he lands the Bulls job — Wolves top assistant Micah Nori.
Lloyd may not be the only significant front office addition the Bulls make, according to Cowley, who suggests Lewin could become the general manager and head of the analytics department. Lewin is currently an assistant GM with the Celtics.
Here’s more from around the Central:
- Backup big man Paul Reed was an unlikely playoff hero for the Pistons during their second-half comeback in Orlando on Friday, writes Shawn Windsor of The Detroit Free Press (subscriber link). Head coach J.B. Bickerstaff turned to Reed, who had been buried on the depth chart behind Jalen Duren and Isaiah Stewart, in the third and fourth quarters with the season on the line, and Reed delivered six points, six rebounds and three blocks in 11 minutes. “Anytime his number is called,” Cade Cunningham said, “he’s ready to go, comes right out there and imposes himself on the game. I don’t think there is any situation in basketball where you bring him in, and he’s not going to bring some type of productivity to the floor. … He’s like a safety blanket for us. He’s won us so many games with his intensity.”
- Pistons wing Duncan Robinson had high praise for Reed after Friday’s Game 6 victory, tweets Omari Sankofa II of The Detroit Free Press. “I’ve said this before but I’ve never been around a teammate like him,” Robinson said. “The way he handles his work every day behind the scenes and prepares for a moment that honestly, he doesn’t know is going to come … he shows up every day with spirit and works his tail off.”
- Cunningham credited the Pistons‘ defensive intensity for their epic comeback, per Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN. Detroit outscored Orlando 55-19 over the final two periods after trailing 60-38 at halftime. “It’s our defense,” Cunningham said. “When we’re guarding the way that we’re supposed to be, it’s really hard for them to score on us. And there’s just been too many stretches throughout this series where we haven’t guarded the way we supposed to. So, we’ve allowed them to have life. We’ve allowed them to move and get their shots and all that stuff. But whenever we really lock in on our defense, it’s tough for them to score on us, and we know that.”
- Johnny Furphy showed signs of growth in his second season prior to suffering a torn ACL in February, according to Tony East of Circle City Spin. “I think I was finding my feet when I was getting some more [playing time]. I was really starting to settle in. So I’m happy I had that experience,” the Pacers forward said. “And I think, obviously, I learned a lot from that. But now it’s just a matter of building on that, not taking any steps backwards.” The 21-year-old Australian said there’s no specific timetable for his return from the major knee injury, East adds.
Fischer’s Latest: Snyder, McCollum, Kennard, Bulls, Morant
After leading the Hawks on a 19-5 run to close out the season after the team traded away star point guard Trae Young, head coach Quin Snyder is believed to have “strong” front office support for a new contract, according to Jake Fischer of The Stein Line (Substack link), who notes that Snyder has one more year left on his current deal. Extension talks between Snyder and the Hawks are expected to happen soon after the team’s season ends, Fischer adds.
CJ McCollum, who will be an unrestricted free agent, was identified as a possible extension candidate shortly after he was acquired by Atlanta in January. Nothing that has happened since then has changed that, with Fischer suggesting there’s mutual interest between the veteran guard and the Hawks in working out a new deal this summer.
Here are a few more rumors from around the NBA, via Fischer:
- Although the Lakers could have a significant amount of cap room this summer, that will depend in large part on what happens with their own free agents. It remains to be seen whether LeBron James will be back, but Austin Reaves will almost certainly require a lucrative new deal, and according to Fischer, sharpshooter Luke Kennard is increasingly viewed as a player Los Angeles would like to re-sign. Kennard will only have Non-Bird rights, which would allow the Lakers to offer a starting salary worth up to $13.2MM (120% of his current $11MM salary), though they could theoretically go higher than that using cap room or – if they operate as an over-the-cap team – the non-taxpayer mid-level exception.
- Restricted free agent centers like Jalen Duren of the Pistons, Walker Kessler of the Jazz, and Mark Williams of the Suns are expected to try to generate interest from Chicago, Fischer reports. As he explains, the Bulls project to have the most cap room of any NBA team, so they have the means to make a big-money offer to an RFA center — the threat of an offer sheet could be the best way for a player like Duren, Kessler, or Williams to gain leverage and maximize his earnings, either with his current team or an outside suitor like Chicago.
- The Jazz aren’t viewed as a plausible landing spot for Ja Morant this offseason, so don’t expect him to reunite with his former Grizzlies teammate Jaren Jackson Jr., Fischer writes. However, Fischer has heard “predictive murmurs” that the trade market for Morant should be more active in the summer than it was in February, when league-wide interest in the star guard was “extremely minimal.”
Pistons Notes: Cunningham, Duren, Stewart, Weaknesses
The Pistons are on the verge of becoming the seventh No. 1 seed in NBA history to lose a first-round series to a No. 8 seed. They’re down 3-1 after Monday’s 94-88 road loss to the Magic.
Turnovers, three-point shooting and Jalen Duren‘s lack of production have all been factors in their poor showing. Cade Cunningham is averaging 29.5 points but also 6.8 turnovers per game. He committed eight turnovers, compared to six assists, in Game 4.
“Yeah, it’s frustrating,” Cunningham said, per Omari Sankofa II of the Detroit Free Press. “A lot of it was on myself; I was frustrated with my own play. Having numbers, not making plays in transition. Things like that, the things I do best, just not being able to make plays for my team. They killed us on the offensive glass, our defense didn’t hold up. All that stuff. We’re all frustrated with all that stuff. We’ve gotta fix it and come back better.”
Coach J.B. Bickerstaff said Cunningham’s turnovers are due in part to his teammates not executing their roles, Hunter Patterson of The Athletic tweets.
“They’re sending a lot of bodies to him,” he said. “We’ve gotta help him by giving him more space, so that he has room to operate. Set screens for him, be a little more physical, get the guys off of him.”
Here’s more on the Pistons:
- Duren struck a defiant tone after Game 4, declaring “I still think we’re the better team” in a video posted by Sankofa. With Game 5 back on Detroit’s home floor, Duren believes a three-game winning streak is well within reach, according to Patterson. “It ain’t over, bro,” said Duren, a restricted free agent after the season. “Teams have come back from down 3-1 so many times. It wouldn’t be the first time in history. We’ve got to keep it one at a time, go protect the crib and keep moving from there.”
- Isaiah Stewart was a defensive force in Game 4, swatting eight shots in just 17 minutes. Should Stewart get more playing time in place of Duren? Stewart told Patterson he’s ready for more action. “I know what I mean to this team, I know what I was drafted here to do and I know I’m built for playoff basketball,” Stewart said. “So I’m just ready whenever my name is called. And whenever my name is called, I’m ready to lay it on the line like I display every single night. At the end of the day, you’ve got to trust the game plan Coach has, and you’ve got to be there for your teammates. It sucks because I want to be out there more because I know what I bring, and I know the impact I have on the game. I know (the Magic) don’t want me out there for a reason. So, yeah, it’s tough. But at the end of the day, (I’m going to) be the best teammate that I can be.”
- The Pistons’ weaknesses have been exposed due to the decision made by top executive Trajan Langdon to not make a big splash at the trade deadline, John Niyo of the Detroit News opines. The lack of a true No. 2 scoring option, or even a proven secondary play-maker, has put too much on Cunningham’s shoulders, Niyo writes, while their floor-spacing shooter in the starting lineup, Duncan Robinson, has been hunted on the defensive end. Those issues have put them on the brink of early elimination.
Pistons Notes: Duren, Cunningham, Game 4, Magic Johnson, Huerter
All-Star center Jalen Duren, a restricted free agent after the season, is taking a lot of heat for his playoff performances against the Magic. He’s averaging 9.0 points, 8.3 rebounds, 2.0 assists, 2.0 blocks and 2.7 turnovers per game as the Pistons head into Game 4 down 2-1 in the series. Duren has been badly outplayed by Wendell Carter Jr. and was even benched for a stretch during the second half of Game 3.
However, the team remains highly supportive of Duren and expects him to bounce back.
“These last three games haven’t went the way he wants, or we might want for him,” Cade Cunningham said, per Hunter Patterson of The Athletic. “But I, and the whole team, have no doubt that he’s going to figure it out. He knows he’s going to figure it out. So I’m excited for next game for him to plant his foot into this series.”
Positive reinforcement is the right approach, according to forward Ausar Thompson.
“Just be there for him, you know?” Thompson said. “Encourage him, feed him the ball and give him some space to work. I just want him to keep being aggressive, that’s it. We’re good, we’re not worried about him.”
Here’s more on the Pistons:
- Cunningham is averaging a whopping 6.3 turnovers per game in the series, including nine in Game 3 — equaling his assist total. Cunningham knows he has to cut down on the mistakes to prevent the Eastern Conference’s top seed from getting bounced in the first round, Coty Davis of the Detroit News writes. “It’s a possession game in the playoffs, and a lot of this falls on my shoulders where I have to be better,” Cunningham said. “I have to make sure I am doing a good job of getting the ball out to my guys to make sure they can make plays. We have had too many empty possessions where we are giving the ball back to them. Again, that’s on me.”
- The pressure is on the Pistons to win on Monday and even the series. Coach J.B. Bickerstaff expects his team to wrest control back from the Magic. “It’s one game at a time, and that’s what playoff series are. You can’t hang on to it. We come down here, we win on Monday — we take home court advantage back,” Bickerstaff said, per Davis. “Our guys have been consistent all year, and we’ve been able to move on to the next. So, I trust our guys. We’ll be ready to go.”
- Magic Johnson, a Michigan native, wrote on Twitter the Pistons must regain their identity or risk an embarrassing playoff outcome. “The Detroit Pistons better get their swagger back on the defensive end or else they are going to lose this series against the Orlando Magic,” he said.
- Reserve guard Kevin Huerter participated in Monday morning’s shootaround but remains listed as questionable for Game 4, Davis tweets. He’s dealing with left hip soreness.