Detroit Pistons center Jalen Duren joined Dwight Howard with a historic achievement after last night’s 30 and 10 performance
Anytime a big man joins the exclusive company of early stage Dwight Howard, it’s a sure sign they’re playing elite basketball. As of late, Detroit Pistons center Jalen Duren has been on a tear, and the first-time All-Star joined the dominant center in some lofty company on Thursday night.
Playing against the New Orleans Pelicans on Thursday night, Duren continued to carry the brunt of the offensive load for Detroit while Cade Cunningham continues to recover from a collapsed lung. So, with Duren in an enhanced role for the Pistons, the big man posted 30 points and 10 rebounds while shooting over 80% from the field in what was a 129-108 victory last night.
The only player to average that type of production over a 10-game stretch before turning 23? Dwight Howard.
Duren was impossible for the Pelicans to contain last night, and the big man even showed his growth as a ball handler all throughout the game. JD finished with seven assists, and he even broke down his defender off the dribble from the three-point line before driving to the lane for a thunderous slam at one point, which should be a scary sight for opposing defenses.
In all, Duren did his best to send the Pistons in a positive direction after a difficult overtime loss to the Atlanta Hawks the night before facing New Orleans.
“Especially after last night, an emotional loss, just coming back in, trying to treat it like, well, in my mind trying to treat it like the playoffs,” Duren said after the game. “Might lose a game, a tough one and you got to come back and reset and try to get the next one. So, the message was the same. Come in here, try and wash the last one off and let’s get the must-win.”
That type of page-turning mentality is the mindsight that will serve the Pistons well during the postseason, and it shows the team-first mentality that Duren carries on the court. Even when JD was in the process of putting together one of his most dominant games of the season, Duren noticed that his teammate, Kevin Huerter, was having a strong shooting night, so the big man worked to get Red Velvet involved throughout the game as well.
“Kev is nice, man,” Duren said. “Just playing against him over the last few years, I seen him as just a shooter. But him being here these last few couple weeks, I’ve seen he’s got a lot more to his game. He’s a guy who can, if you run him off the line, he can get in the paint, make plays, finish. I think he’s meshed really well with the guys, just in the locker room as a teammate. He’s been really cool. I’m excited, man. I’m excited for what he can bring to the team and continue to grow with him.”
Huerter finished with 22 points against New Orleans, and his four triples showed a glimpse of what the Pistons hoped could become a regularity in Motown when they opted to move for the veteran at the Trade Deadline.
“For me, I think it’s just about getting everybody involved,” Duren said. “ Like you see tonight, we had a lot of guys put the ball in the hole, and I think that’s just been great for us these past few games with us being down bodies. Just moving the ball on offense, getting it from side-to-side, getting downhill, sprays and offensive rebounding– we’ve got to be that type of team. We don’t have our primary ball handler, so we’ve got to move the ball. We’ve got to get guys open on back cuts and just share the rock.”
For good measure, Duren also logged two blocks and two steals last night against the Pelicans to round out his effort with some defensive grit as well.
With Duren playing at such a high level and Huerter finally settling in on his new team, the Pistons are playing quality basketball even without Cunningham in the lineup, which spells bad news for the rest of the Eastern Conference.
Next up, the Pistons have a 5:30 pm matchup with the Minnesota Timberwolves set for Saturday, March 28.
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