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As Snoop Pierson said in a late-season episode of The Wire, “Deserve aint got nothing to do with it.” (Yes, I am an elder millennial, why do you ask?). Anyway, the Detroit Pistons didn’t play well, but they did escape a game against an undermanned Cleveland Cavaliers team in OT 122-119.
Jalen Duren was brilliant, scoring 33 points to go with 16 rebounds and three blocks. With his performance tonight, he becomes the first Pistons player to score at least 25 points and secure at least 10 rebounds in four straight games since Bob MacAdoo in 1980.
It was a cursed game from the beginning. The Pistons played poorly on both ends of the floor for nearly all of the game’s first 48 minutes. Cade Cunningham had some nice individual scoring plays in the first half, but there was no cohesion among any combination of Pistons players, and Detroit was a step slow all night. And that was against a Cavs team missing both Donovan Mitchell and James Harden.
That allowed other players to step up for Cleveland, and step up they did. Jarrett Allen led the team with 25 points, including several nice running floaters. Evan Mobley netted 23, including sinking four threes, and Sam Merrill had 20, also sinking four from deep. Those combined eight threes were two more than the entire Pistons team managed.
Had Detroit lost, the game would have been epitomized by two things. The first is a bizarre 12-minute delay when the horn wouldn’t shut off, and the only solution was to completely shut down the giant display board above center court.
Detroit was playing such an ugly brand of basketball, it actually felt like a bit of a respite. The second key development was late in the game when Detroit’s two stars — Cade Cunningham (25 points, 10 rebounds, seven assists) and Duren — missed five of six free throws during a pivotal stretch in the fourth quarter. Those shots loomed large as the Pistons attempted to claw their way back into a game the Cavs were leading by nine with 2:44 left.
But a Duncan Robinson three and an Ausar Thompson backcourt steal that led to an easy dunk cut the deficit to four. The Pistons had signs of life, but then took another huge blow when Cunningham fouled out with 1:56 remaining.
After Jarrett Allen and Thompson traded free throws, Tobias Harris picked off the inbounds pass and sailed in for another dunk to cut it to two.
It seemed as if the momentum had completely turned when Jaylen Tyson was called for an offensive foul on the ensuing inbounds play after a hard shove to Robinson. But the Cavs challenged the call, and the play was reversed because Robinson was holding onto Tyson’s jersey before the shove. That was ruled a dead-ball foul, which was a huge turn. That gave Cleveland one free throw (made by Sam Merrill) and the ball. Evan Mobley missed a three-pointer on the possession, which allowed Detroit to stay in the game.
Suddenly, the Pistons found themselves down three with five seconds left. Daniss Jenkins took the inbounds and streaked up the court, going into his shooting motion almost immediately. Tyson tried to deliver a take foul before the shot to ensure Detroit could only get two, but the refs ruled it was too late and gave Jenkins three shots. He sank all three at the line. Improbably, the Pistons tied the game and forced overtime.
Duren and Jenkins took that momentum into overtime, Jenkins hit a huge bucket and had a big assist, and Duren scored a couple of baskets and had a huge steal that led to Tobias Harris’ game-clinching turnaround jumper to provide the final margin.
Somehow, the Pistons did it again. They escaped with a win, finding some reserves in crunch time when it seemed like they couldn’t do anything right. I’m not sure how much it means to beat a Cavs team missing its best players, but it was certainly Detroit sticking to its identity. They played hard and played together when it mattered most.