Charles Barkley rips Jalen Duren: “His game is too limited”
Jalen Duren is under fire after the Pistons’ Game 5 loss to the Cavaliers. Charles Barkley also delivered harsh criticism: an underwhelming performance and a benching in the biggest moments
Tough night for the Detroit Pistons, and especially for Jalen Duren, who once again finds himself at the center of criticism after the 117-113 Game 5 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers.
The 2003-born big man finished with 9 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists in 25 minutes, but the most telling number was something else: he barely returned in the closing stretch. Head coach JB Bickerstaff instead trusted Paul Reed and Isaiah Stewart in the decisive minutes, including overtime.
A fairly clear message about how his night was viewed: not enough impact when it mattered most.
Jalen Duren struggling in the NBA playoffs
The issue goes beyond this one game. In the playoffs, Jalen Duren has struggled far more than he did during the regular season.
So far he is averaging around 10.2 points and 8.5 rebounds, but without the dominant presence he showed throughout the year. And for Detroit, the difference has absolutely been noticeable, especially now that the series stands at 3-2 for Cleveland.
In the paint, the team needs him in dominant form, but in recent games he has often looked overwhelmed by the physical level of the series.
Barkley doesn’t hold back
And as often happens when a young player lands in the spotlight, Charles Barkley came with a blunt critique, speaking before Game 5 and offering a brutally honest assessment of Duren’s game.
The quote was especially harsh:
His whole game is offensive rebounds and dunks off Cade assists… he should never have only two rebounds. That’s two more than someone who ain’t here no more
Charles Barkley
In other words: for Barkley, Duren’s impact is too limited and too dependent on others.
That is the real point. During the regular season, Duren dominated the glass (10.5 rebounds per game), but now in the playoffs he looks like a completely different player.
Detroit is paying for it, because without his presence inside, the system loses balance and increasingly turns to alternatives like Reed or Stewart in crunch time.
For Jalen Duren, this is not just a bad series. It is also a moment where he must prove he can stay on the floor in games of this level without disappearing in key moments.
It’s first to four wins… in the end, if we can’t win one road game, how far can we really go in the playoffs? We have to go win one on the road, and that’s what we’re going to do
Cade Cunningham
Detroit is under pressure in the series and does not have much time to wait. And he, inevitably, is one of the players expected to respond immediately.