He was playing his best game of the conference semifinals, but Detroit Pistons center Jalen Duren suffered a lower leg injury that may keep him hobbled the rest of the way.
Duren, Detroit’s first-time All-Star, rolled his left ankle Friday, May 15 in Game 6 of the team’s second-round series against the Cleveland Cavaliers. The play came with a little more than six minutes left to play in the third quarter, when Duren bumped into Cavaliers guard James Harden, who was playing for an offensive foul. As Harden fell to the court, Duren took a step forward, but his left foot landed awkwardly, leading to the tweak. Duren immediately went down and grabbed at his leg.
He left the floor and went to the bench immediately, where trainers tended to him. After a few minutes on the bench, Duren went through the tunnel, toward the locker room. Several moments after that, Duren returned to the bench, but did not immediately re-enter the game.
After spending the remainder of the third quarter on the bench, where he occasionally stood and cheered, Duren returned to the floor to start the fourth quarter and did not appear to be hindered by the injury. Duren appeared to wear an additional brace to support the area.
Duren had been struggling to assert himself in this series, taking a passive approach on offense. His rebounding had also lagged, but he was far more intentional Friday night, scoring 9 points on 4-of-7 shooting, adding 7 rebounds, 1 steal and 2 blocks.
With his struggles, Pistons coach J.B. Bickerstaff chose to bench Duren the entire fourth quarter and overtime of Game 5.
The Pistons had a 75-68 lead with 3:05 left to play in the third quarter.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Jalen Duren injury update, status for Pistons vs Cavaliers
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