By ASSOCIATED PRESS
DETROIT (AP) — Jalen Duren had 30 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Detroit Pistons past the New Orleans Pelicans, 129-108, on Thursday night, March 26.
Kevin Huerter had 22 points and Daniss Jenkins added 19 for Detroit, which was coming off a 130-129 overtime loss to the Atlanta Hawks on Wednesday. The Pistons, normally one of the worst 3-point shooting teams in the league, shot 53.6% (15 of 28) from beyond the arc, including 9 of 14 from Huerter and Jenkins.
Zion Williamson scored 21 points for New Orleans, which lost its third straight after winning five of six. Former Piston Saddiq Bey added 17, but no one else scored more than 13. The Pelicans made things harder on themselves by only shooting 45.8% (11-24) from the free-throw line.
Detroit led by as many as 15 points in the third quarter, but the Pelicans narrowed the margin to 92-88 on the first possession of the fourth.
The Pistons, though, hit their next five shots — including three 3-pointers — to outscore New Orleans 15-2 in three minutes. Pelicans coach James Borrego called a timeout that stopped the run, but the game had already gotten out of hand.
New Orleans led after the first quarter, but Detroit tightened on defense in the second. The Pelicans shot 40% (8 of 20) from the floor, missed all four 3-point attempts and only went 7 of 15 (46.7%) from the free-throw line. Duren had 13 points and seven rebounds in the quarter to help the Pistons build a 65-56 halftime lead.
Meanwhile, Paolo Banchero had 30 points, nine rebounds and seven assists as the Orlando Magic stopped a six-game losing streak with a 111-107 victory over the Sacramento Kings.
Banchero logged his third straight game of 30-plus points for the Magic (39-34), who fell below the play-in cut in the Eastern Conference during their skid that came immediately after a seven-game winning streak had propelled them into fifth place.
This was the 25th time in Banchero’s four-year career that he logged at least 30 points, five rebounds and five assists. Only Tracy McGrady (66) has more such games.
Desmond Bane added 23 points and Jalen Suggs returned from a two-game absence to an illness with eight points and four assists in 34 minutes for Orlando, which forged a three-way tie with Charlotte and Miami for eighth. Atlanta (41-32), Toronto (40-32) and Philadelphia (40-33) are just ahead, with the top six teams in each conference guaranteed a spot in the playoffs without having to go through the play-in games.
DeMar DeRozan had 33 points and 11 assists for the Kings, who sliced a nine-point deficit with a little more than two minutes left down to 116-115 on Daeqwon Plowden’s 3-pointer with 50.4 seconds to go. Suggs answered with a 3-pointer with 27.4 seconds remaining to give the Magic a bigger cushion.
Plowden added 23 points on 6-for-10 shooting from 3-point range and Precious Achiuwa had 14 points and nine rebounds for Sacramento (19-55), which is in last place in the Western Conference.
