Detroit — As fans started to fill Little Caesars Arena on Sunday night, the Detroit Pistons were met with a mix of chants. Cade Cunningham received the most “MVP” cheers following his impressive 39-point performance, as he tried to keep the Pistons competitive despite a 112-101 Game 1 loss to the Orlando Magic.
The Pistons’ home playoff losing streak has now reached 11 games, but the fans maintained their hope throughout the night, with most chants remaining positive except for one.
In the middle of the second half, Jalen Duren walked up the court in frustration while fans chanted for Paul Reed. The chants were prompted by Duren’s least-effective performance of the season, where he finished with only eight points, seven rebounds and three turnovers. His performance stood in sharp contrast to the player who made an All-Star leap during the regular season.
The Pistons attributed their poor Game 1 performance to being “a little rusty” and to the Magic outplaying them. However, Duren’s underwhelming performance stemmed from Orlando’s defensive strategy.
“They packed the paint in. They’re going to put a bunch of bodies in the paint to try to make it difficult on him,” coach J.B. Bickerstaff said. “Our pick-and-roll game, making sure we’re executing properly so they can create space for him. It was a good opportunity for us to see, and then we’ll go prepare for the next one.”
Nearly every time Duren tried to catch the ball in the low post, the Magic threw multiple defenders at him to prevent him from getting into his comfort zone. Orlando made it even more difficult for Duren to catch alley-oops, given the Magic’s physicality and hustle to get deflections in order to get the stop. It’s the primary reason Duren finished the game with a season-low four shot attempts.
The easiest basket Duren scored during the night came at the 6:53 mark of the second quarter when he converted a one-handed dunk over Wendell Carter Jr. as a result of a follow-up from Ausar Thompson’s missed layup attempt. Duren garnered significant attention from the Magic’s defenders, which was nothing new. After recording 41 double-doubles during the regular season, Duren noticed a shift in teams’ defensive strategies midseason.
Players began to crowd him whenever he received the ball or in box-out situations to prevent him from grabbing rebounds. The change stems from his career year during the regular season, when he could be named the league’s most improved player and be considered for the All-NBA Third Team.
“He has been playing unbelievable basketball. J.B. has done an incredible job of unleashing a level of confidence in him of what he is capable of doing,” Orlando Magic coach Jamahl Mosley said on April 6. “When preparing for him, you have to now prepare for a lot of different things.”
Mosley continued, “(The Pistons) are setting a lot of screens for him with smaller guards, which is something they were not doing before. He is handling the ball more, getting downhill, and attacking the basket. All of those things have improved from where he was at the start of his career, and it is part of the reason why he is in that category for Most Improved Player.”
The key to success in the postseason is the ability to make adjustments, and Duren has demonstrated a remarkable skill at doing just that after underperforming. During the regular season, he had six games in which he scored fewer than 10 points. However, he bounced back strongly in the following games, averaging 18.6 points and 11.8 rebounds.
Along with Duren’s proven ability to bounce back, the Pistons are concentrating on enhancing their overall performance and developing strategies to help Duren counter the Magic’s defensive tactics. Their goal is not only to win Game 2 but also to turn the crowd’s disappointment in Duren into applause.
“We have to give him space, make sure we are giving him good passes. There were a few times where I felt like I had him, but I did not give him clean passes, and that was the same with Stew (Isaiah Stewart)” Cunningham said. “We have to make sure that we are spacing properly and making clean passes. If they are packing the paint, we need to make sure we are making plays on the backside.”
coty.davis@detroitnews.com
@cotydavis_24
NBA Playoffs, first round: No. 8 Magic vs. No. 1 Pistons
Orlando leads series, 1-0
Game 1: Magic 112, Pistons 101
Game 2: at Detroit, Wednesday, 7 p.m. (ESPN)
Game 3: at Orlando, Saturday, 1 p.m. (Peacock)
Game 4: at Orlando, Monday, April 27, TBD (TBD)
x-Game 5: at Detroit, Wednesday, April 29, TBD (TBD)
x-Game 6: at Orlando, Friday, May 1, TBD (TBD)
x-Game 7: at Detroit, Sunday, May 3 TBD (TBD)
x-If necessary
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Detroit Pistons will need bounceback from Jalen Duren in Game 2 vs. Magic
Reporting by Coty M. Davis, The Detroit News / The Detroit News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
