Jalen Duren recorded a double-double and the Detroit Pistons led from start to finish Wednesday night, cruising past the New Orleans Pelicans 112-104 for their fourth consecutive victory.
Duren finished with 20 points and 15 rebounds, setting the tone early as Detroit never trailed after his dunk 16 seconds into the game. Daniss Jenkins added 17 points, and Duncan Robinson chipped in 15 points while hitting 4 of 9 from 3-point range for the Eastern Conference-leading Pistons, who have won seven of their last eight games.
Detroit built a lead as large as 13 points and maintained control throughout, answering every New Orleans push down the stretch.
Saddiq Bey led the Pelicans with 20 points, while Trey Murphy III and Micah Peavy scored 17 apiece. Murphy struggled from the field, shooting 6 of 19 and snapping his streak of eight straight games with at least 20 points. Peavy also contributed seven rebounds and four steals.
Zion Williamson, who was listed as questionable with an illness before the game, started but exited early in the third quarter and did not return. He finished with four points and four rebounds in 15 minutes.
New Orleans briefly made it interesting late when Peavy’s 3-pointer with 5:41 remaining cut the deficit to 101-96, but Detroit responded to close out the game and preserve the wire-to-wire win. The Pelicans have now dropped 14 of their last 16 games.
Up next:
The Pistons host the Houston Rockets on Friday night, while the Pelicans continue their road trip at Memphis on Friday.
