Daniss Jenkins and Jalen Duren stepped up to lead the Detroit Pistons to a season sweep over a Western Conference foe.
Jenkins finished with 26 points, eight assists and five rebounds in the Pistons’ 113-108 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Thursday, April 2, their second win over the T’wolves in the span of a week. Detroit beat Minnesota on the road, 109-87, Saturday. Duren added a double-double Thursday with 22 points and 14 rebounds.
After locking up their first Central Division title since the 2007-08 season on Tuesday, the Pistons won again to drop their “magic number” – the number of Pistons wins and Boston Celtics losses combined needed to clinch the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference – to one. The Celtics were idle on Thursday, but face the already-eliminated Milwaukee Bucks on Friday. A Milwaukee win would set up the Pistons to face the to-be-determined No. 8 seed later this month.
The Pistons play four of their final five regular-season games on the road, starting Saturday (7 p.m., FanDuel Sports Network Detroit/WMYD-TV/NBA TV) against the 76ers in Philadelphia. After that, they’re off to Orlando to face the Magic on Monday.
The Pistons were without Cade Cunningham (left lung pneumothorax) for the ninth-straight game and Isaiah Stewart (left calf strain) for the 11th game in a row. They also lost Tobias Harris in the first quarter due to a left knee contusion. Anthony Edwards (right knee patellofemoral pain syndrome) was out for the Wolves.
It was a back-and-forth game with 12 lead changes and 10 ties, but the Pistons pulled away with an 18-3 run in the fourth quarter. They trailed, 89-85, with 8:19 remaining, but Jenkins sparked the run with a tough 3-point play. Consecutive dunks by Ausar Thompson and Duren midway through the final period extended the run to 13-1, and they took their biggest lead of the night – 103-92 – with 2:59 to play following a 3-pointer from Robinson.
Defense helped the Pistons pull away, as they forced seven turnovers in the fourth quarter. It got their transition game going, leading to 10 fastbreak points, and helped lead to an efficient night shooting 47.7% overall and 10-for-23 (43.5%) from 3.
Duncan Robinson (15 points) and Kevin Huerter (12 points) also reached double figures, and Thompson had an all-around performance with a near triple-double – seven points, nine assists, nine rebounds, three blocks and two steals.
The first-time All-Star has been among the league’s most dominant scorers since All-Star weekend and entered Thursday averaging 23.4 points on 67.5% shooting over his last 21 games. He has scored fewer than 15 points only three times in that stretch. One came against Gobert in the Pistons’ first game against the T’wolves last Saturday, in which he finished with 10 points, 13 rebounds and five assists on 4-for-7 overall shooting.
Gobert, a four-time Defensive Player of the Year standing 7-foot-1 with a 7-9 wingspan, is one of the most challenging matchups in the league. Duren was far more active against him the second time around, matching his point total from Saturday with 10 points in the first quarter on 5-for-6 shooting. He made a point to get into Gobert’s chest to create space, and maintained his typical strength advantage in the paint despite the size disparity.
Duren has now scored at least 20 points in 11 of his past 12 games. While Cunningham and Stewart have been sidelined, he has further entrenched himself as one of the league’s top centers and provided the Pistons a genuine primary scoring threat who’s kept their offense afloat.
It was a statline that highlighted the many unique aspects of Thompson’s game – seven points, nine assists, nine rebounds, three steals and two blocks. The reigning Defensive Player of the Month contributed in all areas to help the Pistons pull off yet another win against a playoff team without their best player.
Thompson was responsible for the biggest highlight of the night – a two-handed alley-oop dunk over guard Donte DiVincenzo, courtesy of a perfectly placed lob from Robinson. But he made a bigger impact as a playmaker, pacing the Pistons in assists while committing just one turnover. His nine helpers marked a career high.
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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Tobias Harris leaves, but Detroit Pistons top Minnesota Timberwolves
