Under the Hood – it’s time to see what’s really going on inside this Pistons team.
Firing on All Cylinders
Jalen Duren finished with a career-high 33 points on only 16 shots, while also shooting 7-for-8
from the free throw line. We are seeing an incredibly efficient JD so far this season.
My favorite play in this highlight reel is around the 1:20 mark where he’s assisted by Caris LeVert. What makes Duren such a good roller is ability to time his momentum towards the basket when he’s about to receive the pass. He’s moving slightly backwards when LeVert receives the ball, but once LeVert drives, Duren stays with him inside the passing window between Flagg and Powell. It’s a very high IQ play by JD so he has momentum to finish at the basket once he receives the ball.
Also, here’s what Cade had to say about playing with a guy like JD:
He knows who to get the ball to on the fast break.
Transmission Trouble
Duncan Robinson’s defense stood out to me, and it wasn’t exactly for positive reasons.
He had a rough second quarter defensively, and I’m not sure if Dallas was purposefully targeting him, but it was working.
Max Christie misses badly here, but Duncan gets caught ball-watching and leaves Christie open in the corner.
Another Christie corner three where Duncan can’t get around the screen in time.
This was the worst one to me since he looks lost and there’s miscommunication between him and Stew. However, a possession like this is fixable with time to build chemistry with teammates and continuing to get reps in a new defensive scheme. It’s the lack of speed and strength on the other possessions that could be an issue in important games.
Mechanic’s Note
Two other things that I want to share about Detroit’s big men:
First, here are Duren’s updated 2025-2026 stats:
17.8 points, 10.0 rebounds, 1.3 assists, and 2.2 stocks while shooting 63.8% from the field and a blazing 84.6% from the free throw line. His True-Shooting % is 71.2%, his ORTG is highest on the team at 117.8, and his DRTG is 106.3. His NETRTG of +11.5 is vastly above anyone else as Duncan Robinson is second at +6.1. This dude is having a hell of a start to his fourth season.
Second, how about this block by Stewart late in last night’s game? It led to open three for Green to take the lead and was a huge sequence in the fourth quarter.
