{"id":166127,"date":"2025-11-12T18:04:10","date_gmt":"2025-11-12T23:04:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=166127"},"modified":"2025-11-12T18:04:10","modified_gmt":"2025-11-12T23:04:10","slug":"danniss-jenkins-stepped-up-when-the-pistons-needed-it-most","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/11\/12\/danniss-jenkins-stepped-up-when-the-pistons-needed-it-most\/","title":{"rendered":"Daniss Jenkins Stepped Up When the Pistons Needed It Most"},"content":{"rendered":"

When the Detroit Pistons<\/a> were desperate for someone to step up, Daniss Jenkins<\/a> answered the call. Down five rotation players and trailing 112-102 with six minutes left, the Pistons mounted a furious 25-15 rally capped by Jenkins\u2019 last-second three to force overtime. The Pistons eventually pulled out a 137-135 win over the Wizards \u2014 their ninth in eleven games<\/a>.<\/p>\n

For Jenkins, a two-way guard fighting for minutes, it was a full-circle moment. All offseason, questions lingered<\/a> about who could stabilize the offense when Cade Cunningham<\/a> sat. With the Pistons\u2019 injuries opening the door<\/a>, Jenkins seized his chance.<\/p>\n

Coming off the best performance of his young career, the question now is simple: Can he do it again? Let\u2019s dive in.<\/p>\n

Daniss Jenkins Stepped Up When the Pistons Needed It Most<\/h2>\n

Jenkins’ Fearless Play Sparks Pistons<\/h3>\n

Jenkins played free and fearless \u2014 precisely what you want from a young guard thrown into the fire. He attacked the paint with confidence, using his quick first step to pressure the Wizards\u2019 interior defense, while setting the tone defensively with active on-ball pressure.<\/p>\n

His energy carried over to the glass, pulling down eight rebounds, including four on the offensive end \u2014 extra possessions that helped fuel the Pistons’ comeback. From deep, Jenkins caught fire, knocking down four of his six attempts from three. Without his shooting, the Pistons would\u2019ve gone just 9-of-35 from beyond the arc.<\/p>\n

When the Pistons needed a secondary scorer to rise behind Cunningham\u2019s absence, Jenkins answered the call \u2014 and may have just earned himself a longer look in the rotation.<\/p>\n

Built Through the Grind<\/h3>\n

While Jenkins\u2019 breakout might have surprised casual fans, it didn\u2019t catch anyone inside the organization off guard. He\u2019s been doing this with the Motor City Cruise,<\/a> averaging 18.5 points, 6.2 assists, and 3.5 rebounds while adding 1.4 steals per game on defense last season.<\/p>\n

Those G League reps weren\u2019t just stat-padding \u2014 they were proving grounds. The Cruise consistently put Jenkins in late-game situations where he had to create under pressure, make reads, and defend at a high level. That experience shows.<\/p>\n

The adage goes, \u201cStay ready so you won\u2019t have to get ready.\u201d Jenkins embodied that mindset \u2014 and when his moment came, he looked like someone who\u2019d been ready all along.<\/p>\n

The Last Word<\/h3>\n

For Daniss Jenkins, this wasn\u2019t just a breakout game \u2014 it was a statement. Every possession screamed preparation, every shot reflected confidence built from long nights in empty gyms and long bus rides in the G League. He didn\u2019t stumble into the moment; he earned it.<\/p>\n

The Detroit Pistons have built their identity on grit, resilience, and opportunity \u2014 values Jenkins embodies perfectly. His performance wasn\u2019t just a spark in an injury-riddled stretch; it was proof that the Pistons\u2019 next-man-up mentality is more than a slogan. It\u2019s a standard.<\/p>\n

As the roster gets healthy and rotations tighten, Jenkins\u2019 spot isn\u2019t guaranteed. But Monday night showed something that box scores can\u2019t measure \u2014 composure, belief, and readiness. Those are traits every winning team needs, and Jenkins has them in full supply. The Pistons don\u2019t just find players. It forges them. And if this was any indication, Jenkins might be the next one to rise from the grind and make his mark on the Motor City.<\/p>\n

\u00a9 Rick Osentoski-Imagn Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When the Detroit Pistons were desperate for someone to step up, Daniss Jenkins answered the call. Down five rotation players and trailing 112-102 with six minutes left, the Pistons mounted a furious 25-15 rally capped by Jenkins\u2019 last-second three to force overtime. The Pistons eventually pulled out a 137-135 win over the Wizards \u2014 their […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5168,"featured_media":166610,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1608,10,62],"tags":[50107],"class_list":["post-166127","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-basketball","category-pistons","category-nba","tag-daniss-jenkins"],"modified_by":"Jordan Pagkalinawan","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/166127","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5168"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=166127"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/166127\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":166611,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/166127\/revisions\/166611"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/166610"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=166127"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=166127"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=166127"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}