Cavaliers Vs Pistons: Duren’s 33 and Jenkins’ late heroics lift Pistons 122-119 in OT
The cavaliers vs pistons matchup ended in a 122-119 overtime win for the Detroit Pistons, a wild finish punctuated by a 12-minute horn malfunction and late-game heroics. The victory matters because Jalen Duren’s 33-point, 16-rebound night and Daniss Jenkins’ three late free throws overcame a game the Pistons largely struggled to control.
Jalen Duren’s dominant night and historic streak
Jalen Duren finished with 33 points, 16 rebounds and three blocks. With that performance he became the first Pistons player since Bob MacAdoo in 1980 to score at least 25 points and secure at least 10 rebounds in four straight games. Late in the fourth quarter, Detroit’s two stars — Cade Cunningham and Duren — missed five of six free throws during a pivotal stretch, a lapse that loomed large as the Pistons attempted to close a nine-point deficit.
Pistons’ sloppy play and Cunningham’s individual flashes
The Pistons played poorly on both ends for nearly all of the game’s first 48 minutes, with no cohesion among any combination of Detroit players and the team described as a step slow all night. Cade Cunningham provided some individual scoring — the context lists him with 25 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists — but those flashes didn’t translate to consistent team play until the final sequence.
Cavaliers Vs Pistons delayed by a horn that wouldn’t stop
The game was interrupted by a bizarre 12-minute delay when a horn above center court would not shut off. The only solution was to completely shut down the giant display board above center court to silence the horn, a stoppage that stood out in an otherwise chaotic evening.
Cleveland’s scorers and the three-point edge
The Cavaliers were undermanned, missing both Donovan Mitchell and James Harden, yet other players stepped up. Jarrett Allen led Cleveland with 25 points, including several running floaters. Evan Mobley netted 23 points and sank four three-pointers, while Sam Merrill scored 20 and also hit four from deep. Those eight combined threes were two more than the entire Pistons team managed.
Final minutes, the challenge, and Jenkins’ clutch free throws
Cleveland led by nine with 2: 44 left. Duncan Robinson hit a three and Ausar Thompson converted a backcourt steal into an easy dunk to cut the deficit to four. Cade Cunningham fouled out with 1: 56 remaining. After Jarrett Allen and Thompson traded free throws, Tobias Harris intercepted the inbounds pass and sailed in for a dunk to cut it to two.
On the ensuing inbounds play, Jaylen Tyson was called for an offensive foul after a hard shove on Robinson. Cleveland challenged, and the call was reversed when officials determined Robinson had been holding Tyson’s jersey before the shove; that was ruled a dead-ball foul, which gave Cleveland one free throw, made by Sam Merrill, and the ball. Evan Mobley missed a three on the following possession, which allowed Detroit to stay alive.
Down three with five seconds left, Daniss Jenkins took the inbounds and raced upcourt, entering his shooting motion almost immediately. Tyson attempted a take foul before the shot, but officials ruled it was too late and awarded Jenkins three free throws. Jenkins sank all three, improbably tying the game and forcing overtime.
Overtime and the closing sequence with an unclear final phrase
Jenkins and Duren carried momentum into overtime: Jenkins hit a huge bucket and delivered a big assist, and Duren scored a couple of baskets and recorded a huge steal that led to what the context describes as Tobias Harris’ game-clinching "tur". The provided context ends with that fragment, so the completion of that word is unclear in the provided context. The final score was 122-119, with the Pistons escaping an undermanned Cleveland team.
Opening line and a note of tone
The write-up opens with a pop-cultural quip: "Deserve aint got nothing to do with it. " The author follows that line with a parenthetical aside: "Yes, I am an elder millennial, why do you ask?" — a bit of color framing a night that felt chaotic and, ultimately, fortunate for Detroit.
