Jalen Duren posted 30 points and 13 rebounds as the Detroit Pistons handed the Memphis Grizzlies their seventh straight loss, 126-110, on Friday night.
Jalen Duren posted 30 points and 13 rebounds, and Cade Cunningham shook off a nightmare first half to finish with 17 points and 15 assists as the Detroit Pistons beat the Memphis Grizzlies 126-110 on Friday night at FedExForum, sending Memphis to its seventh straight defeat.
Detroit has won three in a row by an average of 25.3 points after a season-worst four-game slide.
Memphis came out trapping Cunningham at every turn, doubling him off screens and trying to bait him into bad passes before he could get a rhythm going. For about 24 minutes, it held. Cunningham had just seven points and nine turnovers in the first half, with a lone assist to show for the possessions he did generate. Robinson and Duren picked up the slack — each with 14 first-half points — as Detroit shot 63% from the floor and led 68-61 at the break.
Detroit made changes at halftime, and Cunningham looked like a different player out of the locker room. Five points and four assists in the opening minutes of the third — Memphis had no answer for it. Detroit was up 98-84 through three quarters. The lead stretched to 22 in the fourth, and that's when Bickerstaff started clearing his bench.
"Seventy-four points in the paint pretty much tells the story," Memphis coach Tuomas Iisalo said. "We struggled with their size and physicality the whole night."
Small came off the bench and paced Memphis with 23 points, 14 of which came before the break. Jerome finished with 21 points. Detroit threw size and physicality at him all night, crowding pick-and-rolls and switching bigger bodies onto him — he scored anyway.
"He's turned into one of the premier creators in the whole league, able to create shots for himself and for others," Iisalo said. "Today the Pistons were able to put a lot of length and physicality on him, and they also stepped up on the pick-and-rolls to try to get the ball out of his hands. But somehow he always finds a way."
Detroit also posted a 47% offensive rebounding rate, compounding Memphis's problems on the glass. When asked what adjustments he could make to address the rebounding gap given the current roster, Iisalo didn't offer a solution.
"Which adjustments? Your guess is as good as mine," he said.
Taj Gibson made his season debut after signing with Memphis in late February. The 40-year-old played nearly 12 minutes and finished with three points and three rebounds.
Marcus Sasser chipped in 16 points for Detroit, which had seven players reach double figures.
The Grizzlies visit Chicago on Monday.