The Detroit Pistons continued rolling Monday night with a nail-biting 113-110 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers in Little Caesars Arena. Detroit took a 13-point lead into the locker room at halftime, but the Lakers outscored the Pistons by 11 in the third. The contest came down to the final seconds, but Detroit was able to make key plays on both ends of the floor to emerge victorious.
Daniss Jenkins continued to earn every extra minute he has received in the absence of Cade Cunningham. The second-year pro from St. John’s dropped a career high, 30 points, along with eight assists and four rebounds. Jenkins produced at every level, getting to the basket on multiple occasions, showing off the mid-range pull-up, and knocking down all four of his three-point attempts. The recent performances from the 2024 undrafted rookie may be surprising to many, but Jenkins never lost confidence.
Everybody else is surprised. You know what I mean? For myself, and I speak humbly and respectfully, but I just know the work that I put in, man.
The work has paid off for the young Pistons guard, who is starting to come into his own as the regular season winds down.
LeBron James scored not one, not two, not three, not four, but zero points in the first half of Monday’s game. That was the third time in his career, and first since 2010, that James failed to score in the first half. Now granted, the future Hall of Famer is 41 and not the same player he once was, but the man known as King James is still averaging 21 PPG.
James suggested in his post-game interview that his current role factored into his offensive output, or lack thereof. The Lakers’ offense is running much more through Luka Doncic these days, with Austin Reaves as the secondary option. Nothing should take away from what Detroit did, though, as it also did a great job of denying LeBron the ball and getting a few strips.
The Pistons were down by one with 30 seconds remaining in regulation. It would be Jenkins who came through when the squad needed him the most. After receiving the inbound, Jenkins would take Reaves off the dribble to the right side and knock down a step-back mid-range pull-up from the baseline.
That gave the Pistons a 111-110 lead with just under 25 seconds to go.
Detroit then locked in on defense twice to close the contest out. It would be Kevin Huerter first, forcing Donic to miss a tough elbow jumper with 14 seconds left. Los Angeles received one more opportunity after two made Pistons free throws.
It would be Jalen Duren this time, playing excellent perimeter defense, and preventing the “Luka Magic” from beyond the arc.
Detroit found a way to get it done once again, extending its winning streak to four. The Pistons almost let it get away, but runs happen in the NBA, especially against a team with the offensive firepower of the Lakers.
The story of the night was the career-high scoring output for Jenkins, and rightfully so. Duren also has a streak of his own going, though, as this marked his sixth straight game with at least 20 points. While Jenkins was perfect from beyond the arc, Duren was busy knocking down all ten of his free throw attempts! The all-around improvements continued for the fourth year man from Memphis.
Jenkins looks to be the x-factor for a potential Pistons playoff run. Detroit has to find ways to win the non-Cunningham minutes, and Jenkins looks to be the key to doing that. The scoring output that we have seen in the last couple of games is unlikely to continue. If Jenkins can score somewhere around 12-15 a night once Cunningham returns, however, that will go a long way.
The New York Knicks have been hot, and Jayson Tatum is back healthy with the Boston Celtics. It will need to be all hands on deck if Detroit wants to make a run at the finals.
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