Recap: Cavs 93, Pistons 89 (Or, WINNING STREAK.)
2014-02-12
Overview: Led by 25 points on 12-16 shooting and 15 rebounds from Tristan Thompson, the Cavs were able to come back from an early deficit and outscore the Pistons 34-23 in the fourth quarter of a 93-89 win. This is the Cavaliers’ first four-game winning streak since March of 2010.
Well, that’s the way to go into the All-Star Break Bullets:
Definitely a game to write home about from Tristan Thompson. The Pistons’ pick-and-roll defense is some of the worst in the league, and Kyrie and Thompson used everything in their bag of tricks to exploit it. Thompson was absolutely wonderful out there–he was finding space, always moving, and finishing with both hands with confidence. He even sprinkled in a jumper from the baseline, but this was mostly about Thompson stepping up in Varejao’s absence — in fact, he looked more like LeBron-era Varejao cutting to the basket and finishing tonight than Current Anderson Varejao has in the last year or two.
Not Kyrie’s best game, but he didn’t do much crazy, and rarely strangled the offense. He really let the game come to him, and while he struggled with his shot, he was able to make some beautiful passes, got himself into the paint and to the line, and did put the Cavs up four with a pull-up 26-footer with 27 seconds to go, which was nice.
Very quiet game from Dion — not a lot of penetration from him, and just 9 points, as he made everything from inside the arc and none of his threes.
I liked that Deng was aggressive taking the ball to the basket. So did Detroit’s gigantic frontline. The results were ugly: four points in 36 minutes on 0-9 shooting from the field. Yikes.
No real time for the Dellavedova love corner tonight — Will Bynum was just too fast for him, and his abuse of Dellavedova early in the fourth quarter almost put the Cavs in a hole they couldn’t get out of.
Anthony Bennett’s breakout game didn’t have much of a follow-up, with him getting just two points in 15 minutes on 1-4 shooting. I think it’s safe to say that with Bennett’s sleep apnea and asthma, and his overall physical condition, that back-to-backs are not going to be Bennett’s strength this year. I’m willing to ride high on Tuesday’s performance going into the All-Star break.
I’m saying a lot of negative things, so just take this away: This was an ugly game, the defense was solid, and Thompson was really, really good. JONAS THAT.
Bullets of Randomness:
This is a Pistons team with some serious issues. As much as I’ve complained about Kyrie this season, Brandon Jennings is just kinda wandering. 3-14 from the floor, and 11 of his shots were threes. At least three of his shots were LAUGHABLY bad ideas. There’s no sense that he’s setting up any kind of an offense. Andre Drummond is a load and Monroe has skill, but there’s no spacing when they share the floor, and the pick-and-roll defense is horrendous. I was going to rip Josh Smith for his effort, but he played a team-high 40 minutes tonight, so is it surprising that he ran out of gas defensively in the fourth quarter? And he took some bad shots, but HE’S JOSH SMITH AND YOU KNEW THAT WHEN YOU SIGNED HIM AS A SMALL FORWARD.
WINNING STREAK! See you guys after the All-Star Break.
continuing on the ” what if ” ( playing g.m. )—-drafting tyler ennis/ Syracuse—-a lot of g.m’s have him better than kyrie / a lilliard potential player ——agiain if somehow we could convince a trade with sacramento for cousins ( throw in some # 1 picks with some solid veterans—Anderson/ deng / miles ) without trading away your present young core group ( kyrie/ t.t./ dion and yes even bennet )—–this might intiice LeBron to possibly consider Cleveland—-just food for thought and stimulate all you bloggers thoughts
There is a lot of hype over the top 6-7 guys. But there will be some very good players in the 15-20 range, the Cavs just have to find them. Interesting research here.
Delon Wright is a guy I’m going to have to pay more attention to.
just furthering the ” what if ” scenarios—–how about tyler ennis from Syracuse / a lot of g.m.’s have him better than kyrie already/ move kyrie to s.g. —-( ennis might have lilliard potential—and we missed on that one didn’t we )—-go out and trade/ sign free agent big—-just some food for thought and stimulate more comments—again if you can somehow obtain cousins ( with future draft picks and maybe Anderson/ deng/ miles / zeller ) without giving up your young core ( kyrie / dion / t.t. and yes even bennet ) that might be inticing for LeBron to… Read more »
I agree with Versus. Between the talent on this team and their recent willingness to play like professionals and other teams flat out tanking their asses off, it’s unlikely that the Cavs would have landed any of the big four (maybe 5-haven’t seen much of Exum at all) without some lottery magic. There are plenty of interesting guys who could be in this draft in the 7-15 range who have struggled for some reason or another. Perhaps Smart drops down draft boards to the benefit of some team around 10, maybe further considering only a couple teams in the lottery… Read more »
Grant overvalued his guys to the way they are currently playing even when they were playing like they 10 year old kids at the Y. Everyone knew that, the players, other GMs, all of us etc. So the young players knew that there was really 0 chance they were going to get traded. Now they knew oh crap, maybe we aught to make sure we don’t get sent to the Kings.
I wouldn’t expect a backstory on Grant’s firing to come out like it did on the Browns. The information on the house cleaning in Berea was attainable because it was exactly that- a house cleaning. EVERYONE is gone, so there is no one left to protect. i.e. if Grant was fired because of the Mike Brown hiring or the TT/Waiters picks, no one will say so because all those guys are still with the organization. That would be poor form.
Good points, Nupe.
It is hard to believe Gilbert would be swayed by the lunatic fringe’s attempts to paint Grant’s drafts as a disaster.
Has any info emerged as to why Grant was fired?
Note that the backstory on the Brown’s shakeup came out in about two days. This is not a good comparison, because the Cavs are 100 times better organized than the Browns.
Watching some of our young guys have their ‘moments’ excites me about how good this team can potentially be and how long it may be for them to reach thier individual and team potential. This also makes me wonder if we fired Grant too soon? The only trade/FA he made that I thought was bad at the time was Earl Clark. Although Jack seems to be a bad move now, at the time I think most analyst and experts and fans thought it was a good (not great) move. When it comes to his draft picks – well yes they… Read more »
I am really against getting Iggy on our team, dude can’t shoot free throws to save his life. 59% would be the worst of anyone with more than 30 attempts on our team. I’m not comfortable with a 10 million dollar player shooting worse from the line than our 3 year project PF. Comment monster damn you!!!
I am really against getting Iggy on our team, dude can’t shoot free throws to save his life. 59% would be the worst of anyone with more than 30 attempts on our team. I’m not comfortable with a 10 million dollar player shooting worse from the line than our 3 year project PF.
Oh, also, the fact that the Cavs had to waive a physical on Deng is a big deal. That achilles injury is hurting him a lot more than we know. He seems to have no lift, and it would explain why he gets beat by guys going to the left (his right).
I think it is great that TT is playing well at the 5. We need to see reduced minutes for Andy in the second half, and I expect that he will continue to miss some games. The dude is falling apart. Ideally, Bennett will see more minutes at the 4, with Andy subbing out and TT and Zeller playing center.
@Nate Smith
No doubt Love could walk after next year. But wouldn’t the presence of Love on the roster make this a situation where Lebron simply couldn’t afford not to return this offseason?
Kyrie, Love, Lebron. Obviously it would take some great maneuvering, but it’s not impossible by any means. And that would be a team to get very excited about.
Really interesting comments here today, guys. Ben: The Javale McGee comparison was a little over the top. Javale is a once in a generation mix of idiocy, body, and talent. I think I’m guilty of falling into a narrative on Drummond. That story of when they asked him who his game compares to during the draft, and he said, “Kevin Durant;” that story still sticks with me. I saw it last night when he got in the open court and ran Delly over, and when he made that goaltending play. But yeah, I’m being a little hard on him. Grover:… Read more »
I don’t think the Kings are offering Cousins for anything, then again I didn’t think another team would be dumb enough to trade for Rudy Gay either so there is that.
@ Vesus
If the Kings offered Cousins for the Cavs 2014 pick, I guess you’d have to seriously consider it. For Kevin Love? I’m a little hesitant. Would he fit into MB’s defense-first system?
@JHill Philly and Orlando immediately after the break. That means a likely 5-game winning streak, hopefully 6. I don’t know if they will be legit “buyers” at the trade deadline, but they sure has hell better not be “sellers”. And to anyone who thought tanking was the right idea: This team is too talented to get a top-4 pick. Just give up on Wiggins/Embiid/Parker/Randle dream. Please. Nothing is guaranteed yet, but I’m excited for the possibility of a playoff series…and if they could land a 6 seed or higher…that would be amazing. They need to maintain this level of play… Read more »
Really good D recently for Kyrie, he’s still a step slow when the opposing team runs the p and r but the way he’s stripping the ball from players driving into the lane or picking those bigs’ pockets, I think I see a silver lining. Also really great to see Kyrie and Dion smile again, really hope they stick around for long term. Go CAVS!!
@Ben Werth – Interesting perspective on TT. If AB can continue to grow, TT and AB could be a nice duo in the front court together. AV could shift back to the wild thing bench guy as he ages. TZ also a solid bench piece.
I like it.
good win again/ winning cures all—-good to see them having fun again—a happy player will be a more productive player——–let’s play a game of ” what if “——what if a trade say a COUSINS comes along that is too good to pass up ( that is we are not totally giving away players/ futue ) —-do we make that trade—-am interested in what the consensus is out there—go cavs—great comments
TT has always played better without andy fof that reason alone i would consider trading andy
Best comments: @Cory- “This is a game the team would have given up on a month ago.” @Ben Werth “Tristan is a center. When he doesn’t have to guard guys who shoot outside, he is a solid player.” – Hmmmm….interesting perspective. So how is the best way to use an undersized center? I’m excited and all, and good for the Cavs, but the Pistons threw this one away. @Nate caught it: “Detroit’s unwillingness or inability to get the ball to their bigs was their undoing.” Detroit started the game doing exactly what their lineup should do: pound the ball inside,… Read more »
Tristan, Jack, Kyrie’s critical shot have been the primary positives that have been brought up about this game. But the big story is – the Cavs are learning how to win and the players played to win the game and not to have good stats. They’re not just competing – they’re trying to win. They didn’t give up after not being able to break the 5-7 point shortfall over 3 or so quarters. That’s the story here. And it’s a bigger story than last game when everybody had great stats and there were dozens of things to talk about. I… Read more »
Cavs have longest current winning streak in the East right now and 2nd longest in the Association (Rockets)
This recent uptick in play was following the same pattern as last year’s Jan – Feb run: starters get outplayed before turning it over to a bench unit. The bench unit comes in and runs a more crisp offense while playing better D and the Cavs catch up. But not last night. Nice to see a Kyrie led unit get the team back into the game and secure the win (especially considering Deng was O-fer). I have been very down on TT this year, but a writer/commenter on this blog compared him to a young Andy and when I watch… Read more »
It’s really quite simple, folks. Tristan is a Center. When he doesn’t have to guard guys who shoot outside, he is a solid player. This recent stretch of good play has been largely the result of more minutes at the 5 and playing against traditional Bigs. Good on him that he has capitalized. Many of his dives were well timed and his use of the upfake was devastating against the Detroit shot-blockers. Tyler continues his good play. His is playing with so much more strength. His left hand has really become a weapon. His catch and shoot game has been… Read more »
One other point: none of the Cavs players in Detroit last night has ever been part of a 4-game Cleveland win streak before (and as good as it feels, four is not a very long streak). Andy’s the only one who was on the roster the last time they won that many in a row, and he was resting up at home last night. These Cavs have been part of a lot of long losing streaks together. Other teams have had hundreds of longer winning streaks during that time. You can tell them all day long that if they give… Read more »
@TV63 He’s playing in a much slower paced offense, sharing the ball handling load with other guards, and playing with a worse shooting team. All those things take away assist #s. His shooting has been terrible. We’re all in agreement he’s not worth his contract right now. He just happened to have played with some hustle against the Pistons, and his play has been horrific enough to this point that we all noticed a difference.
@ Tom No DVR. Just not seeing the awesomeness in Jack’s game. (28 mins 8 asst, 9 pts) I must be missing something here but he’s pretty short of last year stats 12ppg 6 assts with 45% FG% and getting paid 25 milion from Cavs to do what exactly?? Oh right to underperform for much less at 8 pts, 3 assts per ESPN stats. I must be completely incoherent not to see how great he is doing.
I’d give Deng 11.5 per year for 4. That is significantly more money than the bulls offer after you factor in taxes. That’s probably 2.5 per year in his pocket than the bulls offer and it doesn’t kill our cap flexibility. We need to unload Jack though. Even if he keeps playing like he did tonight.
Good write up, John.
Good comments, everyone.
The atmosphere at this party sure has improved this week!
Sucks we don’t know if we’ll stumble out of the gate after the all-star weekend or not. Then we’d know whether to be buyers or sellers at the deadline.
They are playing to their potential now, this is why we thought they be 500 this year. Deng is a good three , he is not an star. Deng is worth $10 mill a year, exact amount that Bulls pitched him. We can match the offer for him or let him go or trade him.
I said that I take 35 win this year and if they play 500 the rest of the way , I think they can achieve that.great win especially short handed without Andy and Pistons bigs. My congrat to the players. Go Cavs
Actually thought Jack played one of his best games of the season, and played defense! He competed, rotated well, directed his man toward the appropriate help, and ran the offense. The only perplexing decision was his apparent fear of wing threes. He was wide open in transition toward the end and decided to dribble to a defender at the elbow instead of shooting a three. But the defensive communication down the stretch was pretty darned good: communication, proper switching, proper spacing. I think Jack was a big part of that. I really hope he’s turned a corner.
Jack had a great game tonight. He was feeding Tristan and Zeller in the 2nd half. 8 assists, 1 turnover, led the team in +/- with +9. TV63 did you accidentally watch a DVR’d game (probably any game this season would have been a Jack stinker)
Okay why did Jack get so many minutes? He still wasn’t good so why did he get rewarded? He shouldn’t have been in there in clutch time. He stinks! Luckily it was TT’s night. Just don’t understand why is he so bad and I don’t want to hear some lame excuse being circulated from Cavs FO that Oh he’s just sacrificing his game for Kyrie? Well Let’s hope he gets his butt in the gym during this break. He needs it.
Correction: Dion did hit one three tonight (1-3 for the night). He didn’t take any bad shots (going 4-8 from the field), but didn’t have an assist either. But no real bad shots and only 1 TO.
I also think Jack deserves mention. Again, not a lot of shots or points (9 on 3-7 and 1-3 from the land of plenty), but 8 assists and only 1 TO is nice stuff from your PG.
Winning a game where only 2 players hit double figures is a rarity, but this was it (Dion had 9, Jack and Zeller 8 apiece).
This modest winning streak just confirms that tanking was and is a tremendously bad idea. The locker room was in turmoil because of all the losing these young guys have endured already.
Kyrie’s defense was some of the best I’ve ever seen from him in the fourth quarter. He came in and actually cooled down Will Bynum. Mike Brown absolutely outcoached the John Loyer. The Cavs had less talent than this team, were completely outclassed physically, and found a way to win. Bringing in Earl Clark when Zeller fouled out was a great move (instead of Sims). Heck, this might have been Jarrett Jack’s best game of the season. He didn’t stink it up on defense. Detroit’s inability or unwillingness to get the ball to their bigs in the fourth was their… Read more »
This was a game that this team would have given up on in the second quarter a month ago. They kept calm and kept fighting and after being down most of the game they pulled it out. Teams learn how to lose and how to win. The All-Star break could be a good thing to let guys like Andy, Deng and Miles rest up or a bad thing if the team loses their current volition.
Should be an interesting week with the All-Star break and trade rumor mill firing up.
Drummond is OUT OF SHAPE. Face it, TT dominated him in the 4th. Without Andy. Drummond is good but he is the 5th option on the floor far too often and just lives on offensive rebounds. But his fade in the 4th was somewhat shocking to me. He needs to be in better shape…
Man, Deng didn’t hit a shot!
Anyway, 2 out these 4 wins were grind-it-out defensive battles and the Cavs won em both. Impressive.
20 wins seemed unlikely before Grant got canned. Something in the players’ brains seems to have honestly flipped on. Effort is in vogue All of a sudden, and Mike Brown has figured out a reasonably good substitute for ISO ball: passing and cutting. Can u believe how easy some of our buckets have been the last few games? We couldn’t find easy buckets all season before this week
Kyrie wasn’t amazing but he hit big shots when we needed them. Winning plays.
This one really felt like it was getting away from them at times (Didnt even get a lead until late in the 4th I believe) but they didn’t wilt and got the W. That Kyrie dagger 3 was lovely.
Philly and Orlando next, here’s hoping for the first 6-win streak since Bron Bron.