The Detroit Pistons won a road matchup without their best player on Wednesday. Now, they return home to face a much tougher opponent on Friday, the Houston Rockets.
All-Star starter Cade Cunningham sat out against New Orleans due to an illness and a left hip contusion, but the Eastern Conference leaders once again displayed their impressive depth, defeating the Pelicans, 112-104.
Two-way player Daniss Jenkins took Cunningham’s place in the starting lineup, and Marcus Sasser backed him up at the point. That duo combined for 26 points and eight assists.
The Pistons have won four in a row and seven of their past eight games. Coach J.B. Bickerstaff didn’t think his team played particularly well against the Pelicans, however.
“I trust our guys and their ability to figure it out; that is what they have done all year long. But this was about us holding ourselves to the standard we need to play at,” he said.”(Wednesday), I feel we did not play to our standard. It is always good to win. We do not take it for granted. But we can play better and we will.”
Detroit committed 20 turnovers and got outscored in the paint, where it normally thrives, by a 54-48 margin. The Pistons received a solid performance from starting center Jalen Duren, who posted 20 points and 15 rebounds.
It was business as usual for Duren, who is the team’s second-leading scorer (17.8 points per game) and top rebounder (10.9). Bickerstaff is lobbying for Duren to make his first All-Star appearance. Reserves will be announced Feb. 1.
“What he has done all year long has been All-Star worthy,” Bickerstaff said. “To do it on both ends of the floor impacts winning. It would be a shame if he did not make it. He has played better than any of the bigs in the Eastern Conference. He deserves the honor for sure.”
Duren will match up against another quality young big man, Houston’s Alperen Sengun, on Friday.
It is unknown whether Cunningham will return Friday; he is listed as questionable on the injury report. He led the Pistons with 21 points and nine assists in a 115-111 win over Houston on Oct. 24 as Detroit overcame a 37-point outing from Kevin Durant.
The Rockets will be playing the second game of a back-to-back. They lost in overtime to Philadelphia, 128-122, despite 36 points from Durant.
A handful of other players reached double figures, including Amen Thompson, who contributed 17 points, nine assists, six rebounds and three steals.
However, Sengun was held to 13 points along with eight rebounds and seven assists. Sengun averages 21.5 points per game and leads the Rockets in rebounds (9.3 per game), assists (6.4), steals (1.4) and blocks (1.0).
“My worst performance this season,” Sengün told the Houston Chronicle. “I wasn’t that aggressive offensively. Actually, I started going good. I was confident. But the second half was just like — couldn’t feel it. And that was it.”
Reed Sheppard and Tari Eason combined for 27 points off the bench.
The Rockets will try to bounce back from a subpar defensive outing. The Sixers shot 55.1% from the field.
“Some plays that are hard to explain down the stretch,” a disappointed coach Ime Udoka said.
