Jalen Duren’s playoff scoring collapse has reached historic levels

The Detroit Pistons are down 3-2 to the Cleveland Cavaliers in the second round of the NBA Playoffs and will be bounced out of the postseason with one more loss. With everything on the line for Game 6, the team would largely benefit from Jalen Duren stepping up and reclaiming his role as a prominent scorer for the offense.

His performances in the playoffs this year have been so poor that the 22-year-old center is making league playoff history, according to The Athletic and Underdog NBA. After averaging 19.5 points per game in the regular season, Duren is only averaging 10.1 in the playoffs, which is the second-largest points average drop ever for an All-Star. Wilt Chamberlain, going from 50.4 PPG to 35.0 PPG in 1962, is the only player with a bigger drop in NBA history.

“Jalen Duren’s scoring falloff in this year’s playoffs is the second largest in NBA history for an All-Star,” reported The Athletic and Underdog NBA. “The only All-Star to have a larger average drop (min 10 GP) is Wilt Chamberlain in 1962, who went from 50.4 PPG to 35.0 in the playoffs.”

The points aren’t coming, as the four-year veteran almost looks like a completely different player. For comparison’s sake, Duren averaged 19.5 points, 10.5 rebounds, 2.0 assists, and 0.8 blocks per game in the regular season while shooting 65.0% from the field and 74.7% from the free-throw line.

In the playoffs, he is averaging 10.1 points, 8.3 rebounds, 2.3 assists, and 1.0 blocks per contest with a 50.0% free-throw percentage and hitting 72.5% of his free-throw attempts. While his assist and block numbers are up, the 2025-26 All-Star is playing much more inconsistently in the postseason.

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