Recap: Cavs 107, Pistons 90 (or, Beliebers there will be a concert)

If you haven’t given Tom Pestak and EvilGenius’s InstaPod following last night’s victory an ear, give it a listen in the link above. 

The potential for a scheduling conflict at The Q was raised a week ago, when it was reported that Justin Bieber’s Purpose Tour was set to inflict terrible music upon Believeland on April 26th. That same date, time, and venue was inked by the NBA to host a potential game five of the Cavs/Pistons series if needed. After tonight, I don’t think Beliebers have to worry about a reschedule.

Pistons coach Stan Van Gundy was fined approximately 11,400 chalupas for his criticism of the officiating after the first quarter of game one, saying “LeBron’s LeBron. They’re not going to call offensive fouls on him. He gets to do whatever he wants. They’ve got to understand that.” Ironically, LeBron was called for an offensive foul tonight on a drive.

This series is starting to feel like a Timehop, back to the Cavs opening round series against the Celtics last year. The games are close for a bit, then the more experienced Cavaliers hit the grizzled veteran gear and put the game away. Hopefully, Van Gundy doesn’t set out a more physical mandate to make up the talent gap like Brad Stevens did last year, and everyone stays healthy once the sweep is over.

First Quarter

The Pistons started out the game with purpose, and went with what got them to back to the postseason by feeding the broad shoulders of Andre Drummond. On the first Pistons possession, Drummond bullied Tristan Thompson on the block for a turn around hook shot.

The attention Drummond commanded in the paint quickly drew a pair of fouls on Thompson within the first three minutes,  allowed a pair of threes from Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Marcus Morris, and built an 11-4 Pistons lead after four minutes.

Kyrie Irving quickly retorted with a triple from the top of the key off of a Timofey Mozgov screen. Irving’s aggressiveness kept the Cavs in the game in the early going as LeBron was held to an uncharacteristic two points in the first.

KYRI3 – the bottom!#ALLin216https://t.co/RMUnqYfn8c

— Cleveland Cavaliers (@cavs) April 21, 2016

Midway through the quarter, Irving hit another three off of another Mozgov screen. On the following Cavs possession, he cut The Dif to -4 on his third triple, again off of a Russian wall. The synergy between Kyrie and Timo lined up a fourth time a moment later, as Mozzy sealed Jackson at the top of the key, and Irving hit an uncontested jumper from the elbow. Kyrie Irving, yeah I’m talking to you, do you listen to the pod?

LeBron scored his only points of the quarter off of a masterful pump fake, up and under on 19-year-old Stanley Johnson. Johnson responded on the opposite end of the court, and hit a three of his own from the right corner over a too-late-to-close-out Irving to push the Pistons lead to nine.

J.R. Smith started heating up from downtown in the final buck thirty of the first. His first three ball came in transition off of an Iman Shumpert behind the back push pass, followed by a Smith jumper from the left wing. The Cavs went with hack-a-Andre off of an intentional Jefferson foul to the big man. He missed both of the freebies. On the following Cavs drive, they worked the ball around the world as Kyrie dished to a driving Jefferson, he kicked it back to Irving on the wing, and Kyrie swung the ball back to Smith as he canned a trifecta from the top of the key over Steve Blake’s corpse.

The Irving mid-quarter surge and Smith finish kept the game within reach, but Detroit played a cleaner quarter overall, and led after one, 28-23.

Second Quarter

LeBron throws it down from Delly! #CavsNation #Cavs #Pistons #NBA https://t.co/Yu3M2XMyWo

— Cavs Nation (@CavsNationCP) April 21, 2016

The Cavs opened the second frame, with the growing-impossible-to guard LeBron as the roller pick and roll with Delly that LBJ threw down. The Cavs tied the game up on the following possession, off of another James and Delly pick and roll. This time though, Delly found an unguarded Jefferson in the corner for the triple.

After a Stan Van timeout, LeBron continued inflicting his will on the youthful Johnson, this time muscling him down in the post for a leaning jumper. To Johnson’s credit, he didn’t get rattled playing the best player of the past decade, and he kept coming at the King. On the following Cavs possession, LeBron bullied his way into the paint, and dropped one in over Reggie Bullock.

There’s so much to marvel about LeBron James on a basketball court. His court vision, athleticism, and power are often cited as his sharpest tools in his chest, but I’ve always been amazed with his balance and body control. Shumpert threw a pass an arm length and a half too far in front of LeBron, and he stretched himself to gather the ball at his right knee, contorted his body on the fly, and still finished the contested layup past Machine Gun Kelly’s second-cousin, Aaron Baynes.

Man on a mission.#ALLin216https://t.co/3ao7aplyIe

— Cleveland Cavaliers (@cavs) April 21, 2016

With Mo Williams sidelined, Delly has taken over the keys to releasing The Kraken in his own fashion. Delly went downhill off of a Love pick on the wing, and as the defense collapsed on him, he hit a driving James from the opposite wing for a poster-worthy dunk on Caldwell-Pope.

On the following possession, J.R. Smith hit his third triple over Caldwell-Pope from the right wing. A minute later, Kevin Love exploited Drummond’s unfamiliarity on the wing, with a three ball from the top of the key off of a Delly dime.

The Pistons exploited their own advantage over the Cavs playing Love at the pivot, as Drummond dominated him over the next three minutes. First, Love didn’t roll to the hoop with Drummond on a pick, and Drummond slammed home a pair. The Pistons further closed the gap as Drummond posted up Love for a left handed hook shot from the block. Drummond then went up strong with a scoop shot over Love, as Love’s feet didn’t leave the floor.

J.R. Smith gave the Cavs the lead back with his fourth three, this time from the corner off of an Irving drive and dish. The Pistons took the lead again on a pair of Tobias Harris free throws. On the next Cavs possession, we got to see a trinity play as Irving dished to Love in the corner, and Love saw LeBron’s seal on Morris for a catch and lay in at the rim.

The Cavs returned to hacking Drummond, and he converted on the pair. The Pistons lead grew to four off of a Jackson floater, but J.R. Smith got three back a blink later on a triple from the left wing. A Delly trey from the top of the key, tied the game back up at 53. LeBron took the lead back off of a put back, after collecting a Jefferson misfire, and the Cavs held a 55-53 lead after 24 minutes.

Third Quarter

The slow starts to the third quarter issue that plagued the Cavs throughout the winter reared its ugly head again. The Pistons scored the first eight points of the frame off of Jackson beating Smith off the dribble for a reverse, Caldwell-Pope hitting a three from the wing over LeBron, and Drummond connecting on a left-handed hook shot over Thompson.

The Cavs missed their first five shots of the quarter, and their first points in the half came nearly three minutes in as Irving used a pick from Love, and kissed a layup off of the glass. After drawing a questionable offensive foul on the following Cavs possession, James exerted his most defensive effort of the night ripping the ball away from Drummond in the paint. In a beautiful offensive sequence, LeBron dribbled to the left lane, kicked it to Irving on the right wing, who dished to Smith, and Smith feed Irving for an open three from to knot the game back up at 60 a piece.

LeBron flashed his court vision two possessions later, receiving the ball on the right wing, and instantly kicking it to the opposite wing to Love for a deep ball. On the following Cavs possession, James tripled himself from the right wing off of an Irving dime.

Irving drew contact on a drive and nailed both freebies. On a fast break off of a Morris miss, Smith led the break and kicked it to Irving in the corner, who gave it back to J.R. for the trifecta from the wing. The Q crowd arose for a standing ovation after Van Gundy called a timeout to stop the bleeding – literally. Marcus Morris caught an elbow to the schnoz, and when it wouldn’t stop bleeding, he had to go to the locker room.

Drummond ended the five minute scoring drought for the Pistons off a banking layup. LeBron quickly retorted, backing down Johnson, and drilling a turnaround jumper in the pup’s face. LeBron then skipped back on defense. Seeing him have fun on the court is really meaningful for me after his bizarro routine on social media over the past few months. On the next trip down the court, LeBron slowly brought the ball up the court, and as Johnson played the drive, LeBron drilled the triple from the left wing, and held his hand in the air.

LeBron checked out with 2:42 left in the quarter, but the run continued as the Cavs had just 1.4 second remaining on the shot clock, and on an inbound play Delly found a cutting Love under the hoop to beat the buzzer. The Cavs’ defensive intensity forced the Pistons seventh turnover of the quarter as Irving and Love doubled Steve Blake at the top of the key, and Love intercepted the errant pass, which quickly led to another Smith triple from the right wing in transition.

After being held scoreless through the first three minutes of the quarter, the Cavs went on to outscore the Pistons 27 to 8 over the remainder, and the good guys held an 82-68 lead after three.

Fourth Quarter

Delly scored the first two Cavalier buckets of the final frame, beating Blake for a runner from the right block on the first, and a finger roll on the second. LeBron fielded a Caldwell-Pope air ball, and took it coast-to-coast and drove through the paint to draw contact from Morris. He misfired on converting the three point play a moment later.

That Shumpman's up to something. 👀#ALLin216https://t.co/oxfadNdXTh

— Cleveland Cavaliers (@cavs) April 21, 2016

Channing Frye joined the three point parade off of the right wing off of a Delly drive and dish. Delly tallied his eight assist of the night a few seconds later, finding Shumpert for an alley-oop. I honestly don’t see a scenario where Delly doesn’t get an eight figure contract per season in July. That Varejao contract man… If Delly leaves this summer because the Cavs can’t match his offer, I’m going to buy a Varejao wig on ebay and release some dioxins into the atmosphere.

My eyes can't take such beauty 😍😭👏🏼 #CavsNation #Cavs #Pistons #NBA https://t.co/rOk9i6V83F

— Cavs Nation (@CavsNationCP) April 21, 2016

After a few minutes of sloppy basketball from both sides, LeBron treated us with something only he could pull off with four minutes left in the game. Delly tossed a floating pass to LeBron off of the pick and roll, and James caught the ball and tossed it to a wide open Love from the corner for a three. After the Detroit timeout, James was finally pulled from the beat down to the bench.

The next couple minutes got sloppy for the Cavs, and included Love missing a pair of free throws. Irving got his final bucket of the night, after beating Johnson to the rack for a layup off the glass. After a layup by Spencer Dinwiddie (yes, that’s his real name), the zoo crew joined Delly for the final minute of action.

Late season call up Jordan McRae made his 46 seconds of action count, hitting a catch and shoot from the elbow. He followed that up by tying the NBA playoff record of 20 threes in a game, by finding the bottom of the net from the left wing. A possession later Delly dribbled out the final 11 seconds of the game, and the Cavs were a wine and white winner, 107-90.

In a completely shameless plug of our new twitter page, here are the Yays, and Boos from Elijah Kim, the voice of our handle @CavstheTweets. Give us a follow if you aren’t already for updates, editorials, podcasts, and live tweet with us during games. Muchas gracias.

Boo

Early but Thompson struggling to keep Drummond at bay.

— Cavs:TheBlog (@CavsTheTweets) April 21, 2016

Thompson is a versatile defender, and he’ll no doubt be a key cog in a potential series down the road against the Hawks, or Warriors, but he lacks the size to be effective against a full-figure center like Drummond. In game one, he put up just two points, and six boards in 30 minutes of action, and tonight he was held scoreless and had a single board.

I just don't understand why Frye isn't playing. Especially when Love is in foul trouble.

— Cavs:TheBlog (@CavsTheTweets) April 21, 2016

Frye was DNP in game one, but he did end up getting 11 minutes of action tonight. He only hit one of his two deep balls, but the spacing he provided opened up opportunities else where, as the Cavs were a ridiculous +18 with him on the floor. If Love is off the court, I want Frye on it.

Kyrie misses a lot of technical free throws. Or is it just me?

— Cavs:TheBlog (@CavsTheTweets) April 21, 2016

The Cavs shot a putrid 50% from the free throw line tonight. It’s tough to find a lot to nitpick about a blowout win, but lawd they need to convert at the line. Every possession matters, and they probably aren’t gonna go 20/38 again from downtown.

Yay

LeBron took 4 seconds of gametime from rebound to and-one opportunity….

— Cavs:TheBlog (@CavsTheTweets) April 21, 2016

I actually agreed with LeBron in a way in 2009, when he made comments that he had spoiled us with his play. Outside of his midseason social media meltdown, he’s been absolutely stellar in the second half of the season. I’ve actually thought that LeBron being taken as an underdog, and not being the focal point of the league for the first time in nearly a decade could be a good thing. He might no longer be at his athletic apex, but he can still do things on that court that no one else in the league can. Tonight also marked his 180th playoff game, passing Michael Jordan for 16th on the all-time list.

Don't look now but RJ and Delly are +26 for the game tonight….

— Cavs:TheBlog (@CavsTheTweets) April 21, 2016

The bench produced big time in this one. Delly led the charge with eight points, and nine dimes, and he and Richard Jefferson tied for the team lead in plus/minus with +25. Jefferson looked as spry on defense as he has all season.

Cavs tie the 3 point record for an NBA playoff team with 20 three pointers.

— Cavs:TheBlog (@CavsTheTweets) April 21, 2016

There’s two ways to look at their hot shooting from downtown. On one side, it masked their peanut heavy mixed nut effort in the first half, and their rebounding deficit, and they cruised to a 2-0 lead in the series because of it. On the other end, it probably isn’t replicable, and missed deep balls often lead to fast break points the other way. Either way, they are up 2-0, and with Steph Curry’s gimpy ankle apparently being a thing again, the path to sixteen wins doesn’t seem like a complete impossibility.