{"id":400143,"date":"2025-11-09T22:37:25","date_gmt":"2025-11-09T22:37:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/400143\/"},"modified":"2025-11-09T22:37:25","modified_gmt":"2025-11-09T22:37:25","slug":"pistons-vs-sixers-preview-jalen-duren-must-dominate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/400143\/","title":{"rendered":"Pistons vs. Sixers preview: Jalen Duren must dominate"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">The Detroit Pistons enter tonight\u2019s matchup against the Philadelphia 76ers with the best record in the Eastern Conference. It is the latest in the season that they have held the No. 1 seed since the Flip Saunders era. Detroit is playing really well, and it has been driven by the emergence of Jalen Duren as a true force and the fourth-quarter heroics of Cade Cunningham.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">But we can also be honest with ourselves \u2014 the Pistons have played an awfully light schedule. Detroit has beaten one team with a winning record \u2014 the Houston Rockets. Its sixth other wins have come against sub-.500 teams, and it has two losses against the Chicago Bulls and Cleveland Cavaliers. In other words, a game tonight against the Sixers can say a lot about where they are.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">When: 7:30 p.m. ET<br \/>Where: Xfinity Mobile Arena, Philadelphia 76ers<br \/>Watch: Fan Duel Sports Network Detroit<br \/>Odds: Pistons -4.5<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"_1eezmj01\" href=\"https:\/\/platform.detroitbadboys.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/75\/2025\/10\/gettyimages-2243186082.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;crop=0.0052887666596177,0,99.989422466681,100\" data-pswp-height=\"3151\" data-pswp-width=\"4726.5\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer nofollow noopener\"><img alt=\"\" data-chromatic=\"ignore\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"fill\" class=\"w91vxg0\" style=\"position:absolute;height:100%;width:100%;left:0;top:0;right:0;bottom:0;color:transparent;background-size:cover;background-position:50% 50%;background-repeat:no-repeat;background-image:url(&quot;data:image\/svg+xml;charset=utf-8,%3Csvg xmlns='http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg' %3E%3Cfilter id='b' color-interpolation-filters='sRGB'%3E%3CfeGaussianBlur stdDeviation='20'\/%3E%3CfeColorMatrix values='1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 100 -1' result='s'\/%3E%3CfeFlood x='0' y='0' width='100%25' height='100%25'\/%3E%3CfeComposite operator='out' in='s'\/%3E%3CfeComposite in2='SourceGraphic'\/%3E%3CfeGaussianBlur stdDeviation='20'\/%3E%3C\/filter%3E%3Cimage width='100%25' height='100%25' x='0' y='0' preserveAspectRatio='none' style='filter: url(%23b);' href='data:image\/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAEAAAABCAQAAAC1HAwCAAAAC0lEQVR42mN8+R8AAtcB6oaHtZcAAAAASUVORK5CYII='\/%3E%3C\/svg%3E&quot;)\"   src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/1762727845_698_gettyimages-2243186082.jpg\"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Getty Images<\/p>\n<p>First 5,000 using the code SBNFALL30 get a free monthNever miss a Cavaliers game. Stream all season long with FanDuel Sports Network<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">The Pistons are not the only surprising team in this early NBA season. The Sixers are also leading their division, thanks to a 6-3 record driven largely by its young backcourt \u2014 Tyrese Maxey and VJ Edgecombe. Joel Embiid is still effective, but it already looks like a passing of the torch is occurring.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">The Sixers score 124 points per game (third in the NBA) led largely by its two young guards pushing the pace and scoring efficiently. They can hit perimeter shots, and they can put pressure on the interior to either get a clean look or get themselves to the free-throw line. That doesn\u2019t even factor in infamous free-throw merchant Embiid, who is only shooting about half as many free throws this season as he has been in his peak years. I think that says less about Embiid being less effective, and more about the Philadelphia offense not being required to run through the big man. They have more weapons now, and are much more dangerous.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">Offensively, the Pistons will need to rely on Jalen Duren to get his defenders into foul trouble and stay out of foul trouble himself. The Sixers allow more than 50 points per game in the paint and are prone to giving up their share of offensive rebounds. That is a recipe for success for Duren. Detroit\u2019s young wings \u2014 Ausar Thompson and Ron Holland \u2014 will also have a huge role tonight as they try to keep Philly\u2019s attacking guards in front of them and attack a vulnerable Philly defense. The Sixers rank dead last in the NBA in fastbreak points allowed. Detroit, behind its young wings, loves to get out and run.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">Finally, there is Cade. He has been a monster this year, especially late. It would be ideal, of course, if he could get untracked before the fourth quarter. Cade needs to dictate the pace and style of this game to Detroit\u2019s advantage or it could lead for an extremely frustrating evening. It will be interesting to see Cade\u2019s fourth-quarter Beast Mode go up against a Philly defense that ranks first in opponent scoring in the final quarter. It seems like something will have to give.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">Detroit is playing even more shorthanded than usual, with the regular Jaden Ivey and Marcus Sasser absence being joined by yet another game without Tobias Harris, and likely without Isaiah Stewart, who is listed as doubtful. Joel Embiid is also doubtful, as the Sixers are likely to sit him on the second end of a back-to-back.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">Cade Cunningham, Duncan Robinson, Ausar Thompson, Ron Holland, Jalen Duren<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">Tyrese Maxey, VJ Edgecombe, Kelly Oubre, Trenton Watford, Adem Bona.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">What will Jalen Duren\u2019s final stat line be?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Detroit Pistons enter tonight\u2019s matchup against the Philadelphia 76ers with the best record in the Eastern Conference.&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":400144,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3773],"tags":[7,296,188,52275,3860,6,297,53269],"class_list":{"0":"post-400143","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-detroit-pistons","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-detroit","10":"tag-detroit-pistons","11":"tag-detroit-pistons-game-day","12":"tag-detroitpistons","13":"tag-nba","14":"tag-pistons","15":"tag-pistons-previews"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/115522138741535246","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/400143","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=400143"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/400143\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/400144"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=400143"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=400143"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=400143"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}