Stairway To Seven? Cavs Take Aim At Longest Win Streak In Three Years

Cleveland tips off five-game road trip in Detroit Friday night

Author:
Jon Rudder
Nov 4, 2022 6:12 AM EDT

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Things are pretty good in Wine and Gold Country these days. The Cleveland Cavaliers have a six-game winning streak, matching their longest run from a season ago and are coming off a second impressive overtime win over the Boston Celtics in less than a week.

The Cavs 6-1 start is their best since 2016-17 and Friday night the Cavs tip-off a five-game, four city road trip in Detroit for the first of four meetings between the two teams. The Cavs are 6-3 in their last nine games against the Pistons but split four games with Detroit last season.

The Pistons have lost back-to-back games to the Milwaukee Bucks who are off to a 7-0 start, matching their best in franchise history. The Pistons are looking for answers on both ends of the floor, coming in at 2-7.

Detroit has played three back-to-backs already in just nine games. For a young team trying to get healthy and build chemistry, it's been difficult to overcome. They were short-handed in the front court, with rookie center Jalen Duren missing both games in Milwaukee due to an ankle injury.

Relying On Their Defense

The Cavs continue to be one of the best defensive teams in the NBA early in the season. They rank 3rd in the NBA in Defensive rating (104.9) through seven games.

Offensively, they rank 7th in the NBA in offensive efficiency but the Cavs lean heavily on preventing buckets. The Wine and Gold went cold for stretches against the Celtics and shot sub-30 percent from three-point range in their sixth straight win.

After trailing 66-54, the Cavs closed out the 3rd quarter on a 29-10 run to take a seven-point lead going into the 4th quarter against Boston. Despite shooting just 28-percent from deep, they frustrated the Celtics shooters into a poor shooting night of their own from 3.

Boston was 11-of-41 from deep.

Keep An Eye On Cade

The Pistons will likely look to get Cade Cunningham some early touches in an attempt to get him going. Cunningham struggled Wednesday night against the Bucks, scoring just 10 points on 5-of-13 shooting.

The Bucks made life difficult for Cunningham and his mid-range game. While he may be able to use his size over the smaller Darius Garland or Donovan Mitchell, getting to the rim will be understandably difficult with Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley anchoring the paint.

Cunningham and Bojan Bogdanovic pace the Pistons with just over 21 points per night. Taking the talented, young Cunningham out of the equation will make life simpler on the road for the Cavs.

Heart And Hustle

Last season, Kevin Love tied for the league lead in charges drawn with 26. It was a stat that Love said he never really paid attention to over the first month or two of the season.

By December, Love had adjusted to a new role and committed himself to the defensive end of the floor. This year, Love leads the NBA in charges drawn with seven in seven games.

Meanwhile, Evan Mobley ranks 6th in the NBA in contested shots per game with 12.6 and Jarrett Allen is right behind him with 12.1 contested shots per game. The Cavs are the only team in the league with two players ranking in the top-10 in contested shots per game.

Allen also ranks 3rd in the NBA in loose balls recovered per game at 1.4.

Mitchell And Garland Questionable

Darius Garland and Donovan Mitchell are both listed as "questionable" ahead of the Cleveland Cavaliers' game in Detroit against the Pistons on Friday night.

Garland is listed on the team's official injury report as dealing with a left knee sprain and Mitchell is listed with a left ankle sprain.

The injuries didn't appear to inhibit their play too much as Garland scored a team-high 29 points and handed out 12 assists in his first game since suffering an eye injury in the team's season opening loss to the Toronto Raptors.

Mitchell added 25 points and six assists. The two combined for just one turnover between the two as they led the Cavaliers to their sixth straight in and second in the last week over the Celtics.