Kasler: Cavs' Big Three come up, well, big

The Cavs outlasted the confident and hot-shooting Pistons for a 106-101 Game One win on Sunday afternoon. The Big Three for Cleveland scored 80% of the team’s points, so a litany of thoughts on them is below:

1. Kevin Love seemed to relish the postseason atmosphere. He dropped 28 points (4-8 on three point field goals) and grabbed an impressive 13 rebounds. The Cavs were a plus-12 with him on the floor, and he drilled a few huge shots down the stretch.

2. Those fourth quarter threes should excite Cavs’ fans. Love has had a highly scrutinized two seasons with Cleveland. This year, one gripe among the steady criticism of his game was a penchant for disappearing in crunch time. On Sunday, he put all that to rest.

3. Playoff series can be a roller coaster ride, and with two full days off between games, it’s hard to suggest that momentum from one game carries over to the next. Still, this performance should reassure Love and his teammates of his willingness to show up big in games that matter.

4. One more Love thought: with about a minute left in the game, Love found himself defending Piston’s PG Reggie Jackson outside the arc. This is an unfavorable match up for most players, let alone a power forward known for being a step slow on defense. But Love squared up with Jackson, didn’t bite on any shimmies or shakes and eventually forced a wild baseline jump shot as the shot clock went off.

5. Love’s scoring and rebounding are why he gets paid, but that closeout defensive effort he put forth against Jackson should not be overlooked.

6. Kyrie Irving came ready to play, too. He started slow, missing his first five shots, but finished 10-19 and 5-10 from deep. Irving led all scorers with 31 points, but he also handed out six assists and grabbed five rebounds.

7. I’m sure there are observers who would point out that the Cavs were even with the Pistons when Irving was on the floor, but that’s due in part to some of the bench-laden lineups he is asked to carry. More on that later.

8. You can appreciate Irving’s dynamic offense or you can criticize his shot-to-assist ratio. Wherever you fall on the Kyrie appreciation spectrum, one thing you can’t do is suggest that he wasn’t ready to play when the lights turned bright. Like Love, Irving showed up to play on Sunday.

9. There’s another guy on the Cavs who had an okay night. It’s that fella’ who hosts last suppers, playfully communicates with teammates via social media and also finds time to be the best basketball player on the planet.

10. LeBron James delivered a 22 point, 11 assist, six rebound performance on Sunday, and the Cavs were a whopping plus-18 when he was on the floor. As good as Love and Irving are, there is simply no replacement for what 23 brings to the game.

11. There are little things he does that don’t find a way into the box score, things like letting a teammate know to stay home on defense or zipping cross-court passes that always seem to find a shooter in rhythm. He did both on Sunday. Defensively, his near block of Jackson's layup when the game still hung in the balance was an important, if relatively “little” thing.

12. The Cavs didn’t get a whole lot of help from anyone else outside of Love, Irving and James. To an extent, I think that’s okay – they’re not called the Big Three because they need role players to bail them out. Still, the Cavs bench wasn’t all that impactful.

13. For some reason, Channing Frye didn’t play. I don’t know why. I don’t have anything snarky or cute to say about it, other than I wish he had played.

14. Also, Tyronn Lue has got to take a good hard look at the lineups he sends out to begin the second and fourth quarters. In the second, he started Irving, Matthew Dellavedova, Richard Jefferson, Timofey Mozgov and Iman Shumpert. Irving made a few threes to keep them somewhat close, but the Pistons still outscored that unit in a short period of time.

15. In the fourth quarter, Lue started Delly, Shumpert, Jefferson, Tristan Thompson and Kevin Love. I don’t know the exact number of minutes that group has played together, but I’m betting it’s small. Even if it isn’t, why that lineup ever sees the floor for meaningful playoff minutes is a question Lue should consider.

16. All these offensively challenged lineups do is guarantee that James will have a steeper hill to climb when he re-enters the game. Why do this? There has to be a better way, and if I was coaching the Cavs, I would try to find it.

17. I’ve ignored the Pistons, who shot the lights out most of the game. I believe they were around 56 percent from the field through three quarters. They also shot an astounding 51.7 per cent (15-29) from three point land. The Cavs weathered a storm that almost didn’t end, which leads to one final thought . . .

18. This was a golden opportunity missed for the Pistons. To shoot over 50 percent from the field and from deep and still lose is a tough pill to swallow. Any notion that Game One is somehow a building block for the Pistons is probably misguided. My guess is they won’t shoot this well in any other game this series. That doesn’t mean they can’t steal a game, but this was one they needed to have because guys shot so freakishly well.

19. The Cavs can now head to Miami for some rest and relaxation before returning to the Q on Wednesday night for Game 2.