The Detroit Pistons' victory over the Los Angeles Lakers on Monday night pushed the Eastern Conference team's winning streak to four games.
Last night, the Detroit Pistons welcomed the Los Angeles Lakers to Little Caesars Arena for a 7 pm tip-off, and Daniss Jenkins simultaneously welcomed another opportunity to announce his arrival to the rest of the NBA, a message that the Lakers received loud and clear.
Jenkins, who is in just his second year as a pro, was filling in for Cade Cunningham while the All-Star point guard tended to his collapsed lung. The prognosis is two weeks before Cade’s reevaluation, but nobody knows the ultimate timeline quite yet. In the meantime, Jenkins has taken command of the Eastern Conference’s top squad, and last night’s 30-point performance might have been his best yet.
As the Lakers were making a late comeback in the fourth quarter, Jenkins put his foot down. When Luka Doncic would score on one end, Jenkins would answer on the other, back and forth as the two diametrically dissimilar hoopers played a live-action, five-on-five game of H-O-R-S-E with LA’s nine-game winning streak on the line.
With less than one minute remaining in the game, the Pistons were defending their lead when Jenkins went to the free throw line. Jenkins had just swished a 12-foot step-back jumper near the baseline to push the Pistons back into the lead by one, but those free throws held the potential to ice the game for the Detroit guard during his cameo as a starter.
And how did Jenkins respond? With the composure of a 10-year vet, the former two-way afterthought nailed each shot from the foul line to eventually give the Pistons a narrow 113-110 win over the Lakers on Monday night.
"I just try to step up and do my job, man,” Jenkins said after the game. “I don’t look into what I didn’t do, the bad plays or nothing, I knew in that moment the play was for me to get downhill and make the play. They gave me my shot, and I just took it with some confidence, you know what I mean? I just try to relax and just play because I’m in that position for a reason, so I’ve just got to go out and be me.”
Jenkins showed a lot of confidence last night as he ran the Pistons’ offense against perhaps the most in-form team in the NBA. His performance against the Lakers wasn't perfect, but it wasn't too far off, either. The Lakers were looking to push their winning streak to double digits but could not do so as a result of Detroit’s dogged defense, which Jenkins was a big part of.
“We don’t play scared because at the end of the day, we know we play defense,” Jenkins said. “We’re going to guard you, and we’re going to make it tough for you when we’re on the defensive end. So, when we get in these tight moments, it’s never a panic. Like, we’ve always got something ready to attack whatever it is that we got to do, so [J.B. Bickerstaff’s] preparation, his playcalling, his defensive schemes, everything was on point and it was perfect.”
From a defensive perspective, the Pistons actually held LeBron James scoreless during the first half on Monday night. James eventually found his shooting rhythm in the second half and finished with 12 points, but the NBA’s all-time leading scorer was shut out in the first half against Detroit. Doncic, on the other hand, went off for 32 points as the Slovenian sensation is known to do.
With Jenkins leading the way for Detroit, fourth-year center Jalen Duren had another 20-point, 10-rebound double-double in what's been a string of strong performances for JD since the All-Star Game. But overall, Jenkins' standout night improved the Pistons' record to 52-19 on the season, and the squad has one more day off before hosting the Atlanta Hawks tomorrow night at 7 pm.
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