Glimpse of Dominant Future for Duren and Thompson in Win over 76ers

Photo Credit: Duane Burleson, AP

The Pistons hosted a nationally televised game on ESPN last night against the Philadelphia 76ers and did not disappoint. At one point in the 3rd quarter, Detroit led by 34 points. In a night where Cade Cunningham sat out due to ankle soreness, the team was largely led by Malik Beasley (36 pts) and Tobias Harris’ (22 pts) scoring outbursts, but Ausar Thompson and Jalen Duren’s performances were eye opening.

Reminder: Jalen Duren is 3 months into 21 years old and Ausar Thompson is just 10 days into 22 years old.

Jalen Duren

Much of the night, Jalen’s task was dealing with the 2023 MVP, Joel Embiid. While doing so, he finished with a team best +26 on the night. Duren’s impressive ability to be a hub in making things happen on offense were on display. He finished with 7 assists, finding his shooters in high post motions and after screen passes. This will be one of the ways Detroit’s offense takes the next step to being elite. A lot of what Nikola Jokic provides for his team on offense with distribution, we saw last night from Duren. In addition, Jalen won the rebound battle (13) and was able to hold Embiid to only 7 boards.

Ausar Thompson

Quite possibly the most impressive thing was Ausar Thompson handling a large amount of the ball handling duties, finishing with 6 assists with only 1 turnover in just 27 minutes. He also had the job of containing Tyrese Maxey and Paul George. At one point, Ausar’s signature defense had Maxey fumbling the ball over the backcourt line for an over and back. Thompson very easily would have been on triple double watch with another 8-10 minutes. He added 14 points and 8 rebounds as well.