3 Takeaways From the Cleveland Cavaliers Clutch Win in Game Three

The Cleveland Cavaliers finally come on top against the Detroit Pistons in a 116-109 victory for their first win of the second round.

It wasn’t always pretty. Cleveland blew a 16-point lead to let the Pistons back into it. When big plays were needed, the Cavs kept their composure and made them.

Here are three takeaways from the Cavaliers win series-changing win.

Cleveland’s crowd is the X-Factor

During the playoffs, Cleveland is undefeated at home, and winless on the road. It’s clear the crowd at Rocket Arena is impacting the game at a high level.

The Cavs have been able to make real runs and get the crowds fired up. That’s how Cleveland built a 16-point lead, just building off the crowd’s energy and the excitement.

Detroit made the comeback and began to silence the crowd, but in the biggest moments the fans got loud again. Cleveland was able to execute, and Detroit made costly mistakes.

The unfortunate side of this is that Cleveland will need to win at least one game on the road to win the series. It’s time for the Cavs to learn how to become road warriors.

Max Strus’s defense is incredibly valuable to this team’s success

It feels like every time the Cavaliers go on a run, it’s Max Strus bringing the energy with a hustle play. A steal, a drawn foul, some great defense, it’s been Strus bringing life.

In game three Strus came in and showed his impact went far deeper than the box score. He was the heart of the defense, being loud and vocal and keeping the Pistons offense in complete disarray most of the game.

He only logged one true steal where he picked off a Cade Cunningham inbound pass and took it for an easy layup. He also forced Cunningham into a turnover on another lazy inbound pass, he drew several transition fouls and forced a few more turnovers in transition.

He came off the bench, but ended up playing over 26 minutes. While being the spark off the bench is great, it seems like Strus should really be taking Dean Wade’s spot in the starting lineup. Wade played just 16 minutes.

Strus does all the little things you want him to. He makes the scrappy plays and gives Cleveland the heart that they lose at times.

James Harden shows just how clutch he can be

In the clutch, Kenny Atkinson trusted James Harden to be the guy with the ball in his hands and make the right plays. All the sins of his turnovers struggles were forgotten at that moment. Cleveland just needed him to look like the future Hall of Famer.

Harden did just that. He scored the last three field goals of the game to seal the win. He showed off the incredible handle he possesses, connecting on a pair of floaters and a three to ice the win. Donovan Mitchell added a few clutch free throws, but it was Harden getting the Cavs in that situation.

Harden finished the game with 19 points and seven assists. Statistically it wasn’t his best game in these playoffs, having another guy to take pressure off Mitchell was massive.

Now Atkinson needs to help Harden get going like that earlier in games, while really trying to limit the turnovers early in the game.

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