Kasler: Cavs buckle down for clean sweep

The Cavaliers closed out the host Pistons on Sunday night in a sometimes ugly 100-98 win. Here are a few quick postgame reactions:

1. The Cavs swept this series, and they came out of it healthy. Those two points are not mutually exclusive -- having to play another game against the combative Pistons would have only invited another 48-minute opportunity for injury.

2. Sunday’s game wasn’t very pretty. There were some moments of virtuoso talent -- Kyrie Irving hitting a smooth jump shot from half court comes to mind -- but the Pistons arguably outplayed the Cavs in a number of areas.

3. The Cavs shot just 42 percent from the field and 36 percent from 3-point range. On the other side of the ledger, the Pistons shot almost 49 percent from the field and 42 percent from deep. Total rebounds were just about even, but the Pistons dished out 22 assists to 16 for the Cavs.

4. The most alarming disparity was the production of each team’s frontcourt. LeBron James, Kevin Love and Tristan Thompson combined for just 37 points on 14-of-39 (36 percent) shooting. The Pistons' starting frontcourt of Tobias Harris, Marcus Morris and Andre Drummond was significantly better, scoring 64 points on 25-of-39 (64 percent) shooting.

5. Love grabbed 13 rebounds, which is good and all, but he was a cringe-worthy 3-of-15 from the floor. I searched my mind for a silver lining, and all I could come up with is that at least he stayed relatively aggressive in looking for his shot.

6. In fear of snapping all the broomsticks Cavs’ fans brought out to celebrate the sweep, I’ll offer that it’s kind of astounding a guy with Love’s skill-set can go 3-of-15 from the field. You might counter that, hey, Kyrie has had some horrible shooting nights this year, too. My response would be that Kyrie has to create most of his own shots, whereas Love is often receiving the ball in favorable scoring positions.

7. So what to make of Love’s struggles Sunday? Not much, except that it perpetuates a thought I’ve had about him for most of his time in Cleveland: For possessing such elite talents, Love doesn’t often scrounge for a bucket.

8. What I mean by that is he sometimes struggles to stem the bleeding of a tough offensive night. I think great players have the ability to recognize that when the ball isn’t bouncing their way, you’ve got to somehow manufacture an easy look for yourself -- crash the glass and get a simple putback, grab a loose ball that squirts free and lay it in for an uncontested bucket. That kind of thing.

9. Love is often at the mercy of Irving's and James’ isolation-heavy sets. But that’s precisely when Love might find a way to singularly impact the game and maybe right his own ship. His rebounding prowess may belie the fact he isn’t typically the scrappiest cat on the floor.

10. Probably nitpicking a guy who still managed to get a double-double Sunday night, but it comes from a good place -- Love’s talent is special, which makes a night where he shoots 20 percent all the more confounding.

11. Irving was a scoring force all series, but especially in this win. His halfcourt make wasn’t the only special shot he knocked down, as he opened up his offensive arsenal for some tough pull-ups and isolation threes. Every one of his 31 points was needed to seal this series.

12. James also propelled the win with 22 points, 11 rebounds and six assists. He was, however, 1-of-6 from deep, which isn’t so much alarming as it is mildly disappointing. In the season’s final weeks, it appeared LeBron’s offensive game was operating at peak efficiency, and improved accuracy from three was part of that.

13. What was a little more bothersome about James’ otherwise solid game was the heavy isolation sets in the back half of the fourth quarter. It’s hard to complain because James remains (and Irving has developed into) one of the game’s best isolation players. My issue isn’t so much with LeBron dominating the ball as it is the utter stagnation of the other four guys. On a few possessions, I reached for a glass of water and thus moved more significantly than any of the Cavs’ surrounding James.

14. Matthew Dellavedova gave the Cavs an outstanding 15 minutes, scoring 11 points. Watching Iman Shumpert stumble and stagger his way through nine minutes of action, I wondered if maybe Delly should take some of those minutes instead. Same goes for Richard Jefferson, who shot 2-of-6 from the field and played too much Sunday night (17 minutes).

15. I wrote before the playoffs that the day might come for the Cavs to consider a seven-man rotation that eliminated or at least significantly marginalized the presence of Shumpert and Jefferson. Most of the feedback to that idea suggested I was crazy. Maybe. Or maybe the reality is that the back end of the Cavs' roster isn’t very good and could potentially cost them dearly.

16. I’m not suggesting only seven guys play. But I am suggesting that only seven guys play the bulk of the minutes, and that guys like Jefferson and Shump only see spot duty. A few minutes here to close out a quarter, a few minutes there. And again, if you disagree, you may very well be right.

17. But tell me, what was the value of Shumpert’s nine minutes on Sunday? That’s almost 20 percent of the game. He was scoreless and missed all three of his shots in those nine minutes. He grabbed three rebounds. This game was a continuation of his entire season. It’s the rule, not the exception. As the Cavs' postseason road goes deeper, I don’t know if they are good enough to allow empty minutes that are so predictable.

18. A final positive thought: The Cavs are healthy. At this time last year, Love’s left arm was literally hanging by a thread from his shoulder, and Irving wasn’t healthy enough to play in every game. Not so now as the Cavs await the winner of the Hawks-Celtics series. Mo Williams aside, the roster is healthy and Irving, in particular, seems to be hitting his stride at just the right time. This team has the top end talent to win it all.