Jalen Duren’s monster day, Pistons beat Grizzlies

Jalen Duren had 30 points and 13 rebounds and the host Detroit Pistons rolled past the injury-riddled Memphis Grizzlies, 126-110, on Friday night.

Cade Cunningham had 17 points and 15 assists, Marcus Sasser had 16 points and Duncan Robinson added 14 points. For Detroit, Ronald Holland had 12 points, Kevin Huerter had 11 and Isaiah Stewart had 10. The Pistons shot 54.3% from the field.

The Pistons extended their lead over second-place Boston in the Eastern Conference to five games.

Javon Small’s 23 points led the Grizzlies. Ty Jerome added 21, Cam Spencer had 19 and Olivier-Maxence Prosper had 17 for the Grizzlies.

Detroit starting forward Ausar Thompson has missed his fifth straight game due to a sprained ankle. Memphis has six players out for the remainder of the season, including three already ruled out.

The Grizzlies went on a 7-game losing streak, while the Pistons went on a 3-game winning streak following a 4-game losing streak.

Memphis opened the second quarter with a 9-2 run, including five points from Jerome, to take a 44-39 lead. Detroit came from behind to win 10-0 and maintained the lead for the remainder of the first half.

The Pistons took a 68-61 lead into the locker room. Duren and Robinson each had 14 points in the first half, while Cunningham had nine assists. Small led the Grizzlies with 14 points.

Sasser gave Detroit a double-digit lead at 73-63 with a 3-pointer. After Memphis pulled within three points, Sasser gave the club some breathing room with another 3-pointer.

The Pistons took control midway through the third on a 13-2 run. Duren had eight of those points and Sasser put his team ahead 94-77 on a long ball. In the final 32 seconds of the quarter, Cunningham dunked on Stewart to give Detroit a 98-84 lead heading into the fourth.

Duren’s throwback with 9:09 left increased the Pistons’ lead to 20 points.

–Field level media