Recap: Cavs 99, Pistons 92 (Or, The Time Everyone Realized It’s Just a Game)

2010-03-06 Off By admin

Overview: The Cavaliers came back from their biggest home deficit of the year to pull out a 99-92 win over the Detroit Pistons. However, the game was overshadowed by Rodney Stuckey mysteriously collapsing in the third quarter.

Special Note:

First of all, what happened to Rodney Stuckey was frightening and certainly made everybody realize that there are things more important than basketball. Best wishes for him and his family, and hopefully he has a full and speedy recovery. I will talk about basketball now, but Stuckey’s health is easily the most important story of the night. I trust sources better qualified than I to keep you updated on that situation.

Cavs-Related Bullets:

The Pistons got out to a big lead in the first half, but it was honestly more a product of the Pistons making shot after shot after shot than it was about anything the Cavs were doing wrong. Rip Hamilton and Tayshaun Prince were making every jumper they looked at, and there’s no real answer for that. In the NBA, you have to dare teams to beat you with deep two-point jumpers. In the first half, the Pistons did just that, but that doesn’t mean the Cavs were playing bad basketball. Kwame Brown even hit a 17-footer, for crying out loud.

Meanwhile, the Cavs were running a layup line, but couldn’t buy a jumper. In the second half, the jumpers starting missing for the Pistons and going in for the Cavs, and they took the game.

LeBron James. Wow. Completely unstoppable when he drove, changed the flow of the game with some absolutely huge three-pointers at the end of the third and beginning of the fourth, made some great passes in the first half, and had a beautiful spinning jumper for the dageer. I’d like to single out LeBron’s rebounding. In the past, I’ve called LeBron’s rebounding the most overrated part of his game, as he often collects far more easy rebounds than easy points or assists. In this game, LeBron made a real impact on the boards. It’s not just that LeBron finished with 13 rebounds; it’s that without a center, LeBron really had to fight for a lot of those boards, and the Cavs often needed them.

The less said about Hickson, Williams, and Parker, the better. Parker at least played good defense and didn’t hurt the offensive flow. Hickson had a setback game, which is explainable; Hickson’s a player who thrives on comfort, and the Cavs were uncomfortable for much of the game thanks to the Pistons’ early scoring. Mo still doesn’t look like himself. The sooner he gets back to playing the way he can, the better. Man, that shot of his has looked flat since he’s returned.

Varejao and West were at their absolute best. Great cuts, scrappy defense, always attacking, after every loose ball. They were the difference-makers off the bench.

This is why the Cavs got Jamison. With LeBron sitting, Jamison hit some outside shots and a tough floater to put the Cavs on top, and they held that lead throughout the fourth quarter. Not many other Cavs in the LeBron era capable of doing that.

Bullets of Randomness:

I don’t think I’ve ever been as impressed by an 0-5 performance as I was by Jonas Jerebko’s effort tonight. That guy was everywhere. He’s a keeper.

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