Jalen Duren, Pistons have plan to get right in Game 2

Jalen Duren versus Wendell Carter Jr. was supposed to be Advantage Pistons. It was just the opposite in Game 1.

Carter Jr. scored 17 points on one of his best shooting nights of the season and helped the Magic limit to Duren to eight points and one offensive rebound in Orlando's resounding win to open the series. Carter Jr. made twice as many field goals (8) as his All-Star counterpart attempted.

“He kept Duren, basically, out of the game,” said Magic forward Anthony Black.

Carter Jr. was at the center of a team effort for the Magic, who made life as difficult as possible for Duren and forced the Pistons' outside shooters around Cade Cunningham to beat them. It worked.

"They just had a good game plan," said Duren. "Packed the paint, had a lot of bodies in the paint. Anytime I got catches deep, they collapsed on me. We made some adjustments and just going to get ready to get to it in Game 2."

After dissecting the film from Game 1, Duren said he could have done a better of "finding my spots and attacking more." He plans to be "more aggressive" on Wednesday night. Despite the extra attention he received, he still felt like he left some scoring opportunities on the table.

After practice on Tuesday, Duren was working in the paint with one defender draped over him, another sagging in to help and a third dropping down from the perimeter to further cloud his vision and his lane to the basket. He said he wanted "to replicate how they guard and try to get some reps up with three guys around me." The extra defenders in Game 1, Duren said, came from everywhere.

"I didn’t even get anywhere near as many shot attempts as I should have or that I would have liked to ... There were times where I caught myself one on one, and I’ve seen those moments, and I’m going to continue to watch those moments and see how many more opportunities I can get. But for the most part, they were just collapsing from anywhere."

Duren averaged 19.5 points and 11.5 field goal attempts per game in his breakout season. His four field goal attempts in Game 1 were his fewest of the season in a game where he played his typical amount of minutes. That won't be happening in Game 2: "Nah, nah, nah, nah, nah. That’s not enough," said Duren. "That's not enough. And that’s on me. I just gotta be better for my guys."

At the same time, the Pistons have to be better for Duren: "We gotta put the ball in his hands," said J.B. Bickerstaff. "They did a good job of pinching his pick and roll and not letting him get the ball in the pick and roll. But we gotta do a better job of letting him touch it in different places, and then he can be effective."

It doesn't mean that Duren will start forcing the issue; that would only make matters worse. Just that he'll be more aware about when and where he can attack, and more assertive when coverages allow it. All the extra traffic in the paint demands "smarter reads" when the ball goes in there, Duren said. The Pistons need their brains to beat Orlando's brawn.

"You gotta kick it out, find shooters, you gotta keep moving, you gotta move those bodies. You can’t really be stagnant," Duren said. "You gotta play with some pace. When we’re playing with pace and getting the ball side to side and getting downhill, kicking out and finding Duncan (Robinson), finding Tobias (Harris), and just moving with a sense of urgency, I think you’re able to negate their size and their physicality."

Down in the series, the Pistons will be in real trouble if Duren doesn't come to life. For Duren, that's not a concern. He's putting Game 1 behind him, with the rest of the series -- and the rest of the playoffs -- ahead.

"Just staying focused, man. Wash the first one away," he said. "We’re better than what we put forth and what we showed in Game 1, so I have no doubt in my mind that we’re going to bounce back and respond like we have all season."