Rest And A Win: Cavaliers Roll Past Pistons For Fourth-Straight Win
The Cleveland Cavaliers have won 25 of their 35 games by ten or more points. Wednesday night against the Detroit Pistons marked another double-digit victory for the Cavs, their fourth straight win, but the outcome looked very much in doubt midway through the third quarter.
The Pistons are in last place in the Eastern Conference and sure as hell looked like it through the game’s first 12 minutes.
Sure, Detroit was without Cade Cunningham (stress fracture) and Marvin Bagley III (fractured right hand), but the Pistons looked outmatched and outgunned with Raul Neto and Caris LeVert in the starting lineup.
The Cavs led by 18 after the first quarter, the biggest advantage after one quarter of the season. Defensively, the Cavs allowed 14 points, which tied for the lowest in any quarter this season.
For as well as Cleveland played in the first quarter, it almost came unraveled. Detroit woke up in the second quarter and got uncomfortably close in the third, cutting a double-digit deficit to as little as three points at one point.
Fortunately, the Wine and Gold shook off the Pistons rally with an answer of their own. After a disappointing loss to Miami over a week ago that led to head coach J.B. Bickerstaff giving a speech to his team reminding them of all they’ve accomplished so far and to tune out the external noise, Cleveland has responded with four impressive wins.
Five thoughts/Observations from a 113-85 win over the Pistons:
- The Cavs’ got two big things Wednesday night: rest and a win.
Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland received a much-needed night off as they battle some nagging minor injuries, and the Cavs’ continued their winning ways against a non-playoff team.
To say that Mitchell hasn’t looked himself lately isn’t exactly fair, but you can certainly tell the groin issue that caused him to miss five out of six games is clearly still bothering him. Garland has been dealing with right thumb soreness and Cavs’ head coach J.B. Bickerstaff took a chance to give his backcourt a rest as the All-Start game approaches.
Even Mobley and Allen got an early exit with the Cavs owning a big lead late.
- The Pistons had no answers for Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley
Allen and Mobley put on a clinic. The Pistons didn’t have an answer for the Cavs’ big men at either end of the floor. In the first quarter alone, Mobley scored 11 points while Allen added ten. They finished with 19 and 20 points, respectively.
At one point in the first quarter, the Cavs had scored 22 of their 24 points from the paint.
Allen credited the Cavs’ ability to move the basketball, even without Mitchell and Garland in the lineup. They’ve dished out 26 or more assists in each of their last nine games. The Cavs had 11 assists in the first quarter alone.
“Tonight, was about sharing the ball. We were sharing the ball from top to bottom,” Allen said. “Evan and I were aggressive, but without them (teammates) we couldn't have scored how we did. We can have been as aggressive, and I think that's what it's all about.”
- The Cavaliers' perimeter defense has been excellent over this four-game stretch.
Starting with Sunday’s game against the Pacers, the Cavs had been placing an extra emphasis on limiting three pointers and closing out on perimeter shots. They held Indiana to just 25% (8-for-32) from deep and followed it up the next night by limiting the Wizards to just six three-pointers all night (6-for-28).
Wednesday night the Pistons didn’t hit from deep for more than 18 minutes until Bojan Bogdanovic connected from beyond the arc with 4:32 to play in the second quarter.
Detroit shot 25% (8-for-32) from three point range on the night, the third-straight game the Cavs have limited their opponent to below 30-percent from three-point range.
The only problem?
The Cavs weren’t any better from deep Wednesday night, going 6-for-25 from long range.
- How good was Raul Neto?
He got the start at point guard in place of Darius Garland and played about as well as you could’ve asked for. Neto scored 14 points and dished out eight assists in 35 minutes.
Yes, you read that correctly: 35 minutes!
Neto said he didn’t know he was going to start until shoot around Wednesday morning. He hasn’t played much, but to be out there on the floor for 35 minutes and have the impact he did from start to finish.
He has his limitations, sure. But Neto fits perfectly into this team’s culture and his teammates couldn’t have been happier to see him play the way he did Wednesday night against the Pistons.
- The Cavs love to get called for defensive three-seconds, and it’s glorious!
Midway through the second quarter the Cavs were whistled for a technical foul by way of a defensive three-second violation. It’s rare for teams to celebrate a technical, but the Cavs embrace the penalty for loitering too long in the lane.
Jarrett Allen unleashed an emphatic fist pump and let loose with a yell following the whistle.
With a pair of seven-footers in Allen and Mobley, part of their defensive plan is to clog up the paint. By default, a defensive three-second call or two will get called and for the Cavs’ they’re more than okay with it.
“About two years ago, J.B. was like ‘just stand in the paint! Just stand in the paint! They're not going to call it!” Allen said. “He (J.B.) said to celebrate. Look at the bench and blame it on them. So, I just took it, and I just ran with it. We get a three second call, we're playing our defense and we're doing something right.”
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