Pistons' Cade Cunningham unveils Jalen Duren NBA Playoffs plan to win vs. Magic originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
A lot of things went wrong for the Detroit Pistons. They allowed Paolo Banchero and the Orlando Magic to pop off in the first quarter then proceeded to have a decentralized offense which led to the 112-101 NBA Playoffs loss. This is just Game 1 but a lot of worries are starting to surface from their fans. Cade Cunningham eased all these woes when he outlined that they plan on using Jalen Duren more.
For many, this is a no-brainer. Jalen Duren just got named an All-Star and should be playing a bigger role for the Pistons in the NBA Playoffs. However, this was just not the reality against the Magic. Coach J.B. Bickerstaff was always to play him for 33 minutes but the production was just not there. Duren only notched eight points to pair with seven rebounds.
Cade Cunningham posits that the Pistons offense need to trust Duren more and let him work after their NBA Playoffs Game 1 loss, via the NBA.
"Just give him space. Make sure to give him good passes in there. There were a couple times where I felt like I had him, didn’t give him good passes, same thing with Stew. That’s what they do is pack the paint, so just making sure that we’re spacing properly and making crisp passes. Also if they’re packing the paint, making sure that we’re making plays on the back side of it," the Pistons guard declared.
This is not at all a bad strategy. Sure, the Pistons were able to to show their depth as 11 people scored for them but the decentralized offense just could not claw them out of this NBA Playoffs loss. Only Cunningham and Tobias Harris managed to score more than 10 points against the Magic so they really need someone to step up offensively.
Being an All-Star requires having more responsibility in the NBA Playoffs. Will Cunningham and the Pistons be able to trust Duren enough to give him more shots in Game 2 to win over the Magic? Only time will tell.