Dennis Schroder Says What Cavs Fans Have Been Thinking About Pistons

Can the Detroit Pistons hang with the Cleveland Cavaliers in a playoff series? Hear what the Cavaliers locker room had to say after Tuesday night's victory.

Mar 3, 2026; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers guard Dennis Schroder (8) lays up a shot beside Detroit Pistons guard Ausar Thompson (9) in the third quarter at Rocket Arena. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-Imagn Images | David Richard-Imagn Images

The Cleveland Cavaliers ruffled some feathers last week.

After an undermanned Cavs team lost a tight game against Detroit on Friday, the prevailing feeling inside Cleveland’s locker room was that the Pistons can’t beat them in a playoff series, according to cleveland.com’s Chris Fedor.

Before the Cavaliers rematched the Pistons on Tuesday night, Detroit head coach J.B. Bickerstaff sounded off on that report.

"I have no response,” Bickerstaff said. “If you mean it, you don't say it anonymously.”

After the Cavaliers defeated the Pistons 113-109 on Tuesday night at Rocket Arena, backup point guard Dennis Schröder said what Cavaliers fans have been believing.

“We let one slip on Friday in Detroit, we could’ve won that one as well,” Schröder said. “But we showed that we can play with them. Obviously they’re a great group and talented group, but we’re not bad, either.”

Bite of the night from Dennis Schröder following #Cavs 113-109 win over #Pistons after letting one get away Friday night in Detroit

📺 WATCH more here: https://t.co/MJfSUaKPL5 pic.twitter.com/dkwi0lMkHF

— Daryl Ruiter (@RuiterWrongFAN) March 4, 2026

Reading between the lines on Schröder’s comments, you can see why the Cavaliers don’t believe that the Pistons can hang with them at full strength. On Tuesday night, the Pistons had respectable attempts at a comeback, but they were never able to completely slow down the Cavaliers, who were without Donovan Mitchell for the fourth-straight game due to his groin injury.

Schröder was brilliant in the victory, contributing 15 points in 28 minutes while adding five rebounds and five assists.

They backed up the belief that the Pistons can’t hang with them in a seven game playoff series by shutting down MVP candidate Cade Cunningham, who scored just 10 points on Tuesday night.

Because the Cavaliers have dealt with their fair share of injuries, it’s unlikely that Cleveland will be able to catch the Pistons in the East. The Pistons have a 7.5 game lead on the Cavaliers, who have been without Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley for extended periods of the season. =

The additions of Schröder, Keon Ellis and James Harden have the Cavaliers believing that they’re a force to be reckoned with in the NBA postseason. Even without Mitchell, the Cavaliers proved to themselves that they can take down the top team in the NBA.

Schröder and Ellis bring a level of hunger and defensiveness that the Cavaliers were missing. In his 17th NBA season, Harden also finds himself hungry for his first NBA title.

The Cavaliers tied their regular season matchups with the Pistons this year. But Tuesday night gave Cavs fans a glimpse into the belief that the team has in themselves. Bickerstaff’s teams in Cleveland would be phenomenal in the regular season, but would fade in the big moments.

Now, it could be Kenny Atkinson’s Cavaliers that are the most experienced and tenured team in the postseason. They genuinely believe that they could eliminate the Pistons.