Detroit Pistons Taking Advantage Of Rim Looks Without Jalen Duren

By any measure, it is impossible to ignore that the Detroit Pistons look different without Jalen Duren in the lineup. Now, the Pistons certainly do not look bad with their 6-2 record as reinforcement for that notion, but Detroit has shifted their focus without a 22-year old All-Star center in the middle. 

To no surprise, Paul Reed has filled in mightily at the five in spot-start opportunities, but B-Ball Paul has actually been part of the Pistons’ offensive shift without Duren. Through eight games, the Pistons are taking more three-pointers than they did a year ago, but they’re also connecting on more long-range shots at the same time, and Reed was even leading the NBA in shooting percentage from downtown until recently. 

During the offseason, the Pistons made a concerted effort to add perimeter scoring to the rotation, but Duncan Robinson, a holdover, has been the main supplier of triples through the first 10% of the regular season. So far, Robinson is on pace to set a career-high in points per game while taking the most treys out of any point in his career, so Detroit’s focus on becoming more dangerous from the outside has not been just talk. 

As a byproduct of that perimeter efficiency, the Pistons have also benefited from teams that blitz the ball handler or close-out hard on the three-point line by skipping the second level and throwing the ball directly into the low post. Right now, the Pistons rank No. 5 in terms of rim field goal percentage for the regular season, which shows that Detroit is making good use of their interior looks. 

When looking at Reed’s production specifically, the big man out of DePaul is shooting 69.2% on shots less than five feet from the bucket. That efficiency is fairly comparable to Duren’s finishing rate when he has been healthy, so the Pistons have been able to carry out many of the same sets and actions with B-Ball Paul in the mix. 

On a per-game basis, Reed is averaging 12.8 points and 6.8 rebounds each night, so there has been a slight drop-off from Duren’s standard output, but that should be expected when a team goes from an All-NBA Third-Teamer to an admittedly skilled back-up center who is being thrust into a starting role. 

Duren has been working to recover from his strained right hamstring for the last six games, but the Pistons should have an update on his status soon with a big matchup against the Western Conference’s top squad, the Los Angeles Lakers, set for Sunday evening at 6 pm.