Taking a trip down to Mexico City for Saturday night’s 12-point victory over the Mavericks, the Detroit Pistons had several objectives in mind. 

First, the Pistons hoped to start the game quickly and to take an early lead, which is a facet that has eluded Detroit in recent contests. And playing against Dallas, the Pistons were able to score from the jump and created a 7-0 cushion in the opening minutes thanks to a couple thunderous lobs to Jalen Duren. 

But apart from a basketball standpoint, the Pistons sought out to represent the NBA in international territory, and to do so in a way that helped spread the game of basketball to new areas. 

“It was important for us to come out here and perform at a high level,” Pistons head coach J.B. Bickerstaff said after the game. “Again, it's an honor to be asked to be a part of these games, to be a flag bearer of the NBA in international cities now, obviously in Mexico City, it means a lot, and it's a huge responsibility. So, we wanted to play well for the fans here. I thought the fans were amazing. They were energetic. They were into the game, but we wanted to give them a show, and I felt like we did tonight.”

In terms of providing a show, Duren did his best to entertain the fans in attendance at Arena CDMX. With a slew of powerful dunks and alley-oops, Duren posted a career-high 33 points and 10 rebounds in the victory with his above-the-rim display. And when asked to describe his big man’s performance against the Mavs, coach Bickerstaff had one decisive word– “domination.”

“He was phenomenal putting pressure on the rim,” Bickerstaff said. “He ran the floor. He scored in a bunch of different ways, working the offensive boards. He dominated the interior tonight.”

This season, Duren is averaging a double-double with 17.8 points and 10 rebounds per game thanks in part to dominant performances like on Saturday night. It is important to remember that Duren is only 21 years old, so he’s still developing as a player, although it looks as if he may have finally arrived.

Cade Cunningham Ties Career High With 18 Assists In Win Over Mavs The Detroit Pistons point guard had a dominant display on Saturday night

From a wider perspective, Cade Cunningham had another banner performance with 21 points and a career-high-tying 18 assists on the night, but the team’s defense needed to improve throughout the course of the game against Dallas in order to pick up a win. 

“We finally decided we were gonna play some defense, and our team, no matter how far we go, where we end up, it has to be our defense that leads the way,” Bickerstaff said. “And there were too many opportunities, I thought that we just didn't do a good enough job on the defensive end of the floor. We allowed them to get to the paint too often. We gave up too many open threes, but in the fourth quarter to hold them to 17 points after giving up 30 in each quarter, it shows what we're capable of. We just have to be more consistent on that end of the floor.”

So far this season, the Pistons have shown an ability to complete comebacks and track teams down at the end of games, but ideally Detroit would like to be in the driver’s seat before the clock expires. 

In any event, the Pistons will be back in action on Monday, Nov. 3 against the Memphis Grizzlies on the road at 8 pm.

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