Recap: Pistons 96, Cavs 88 (or, don’t let the bed bugs bite)

Streaks are marked by a beginning and an end, and the Cavs winning streak and Pistons losing streak both came to a close when the final buzzer sounded. I’m not worried about the Cavs half-hearted effort, or a loss to a division rival at all. If these two teams meet in the first round in April, I can’t fathom Detroit taking more than a game from the Cavs; however, a few seasons down the road we could experience crippling deja vu to the 2009 loss to the Magic with them.

I always liked Stan Van Gundy, and never viewed him as being a classic retread coach. The construction of this Pistons team shows that he learned from his sins of the past in Orlando. As complimentary as Dwight Howard’s cast was, most of his peers’  primes didn’t coincide with his, and ultimately it lead to a reboot of the franchise, Van Gundy’s firing, and Howard’s exit. Andre Drummond is still just 23, and he has his bouts of inconstant effort. Perhaps in the short term, they the Pistons could go further in the playoffs with an older surrounding cast, but that’s the same failed philosophy that doomed the first era or the LeBron Cavs, and Howard Magic. The surrounding cast Van Gundy has built around Drummond is comprised of Reggie Jackson (26), Tobias Harris (23), Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (23) and Stanley Johnson (19). All have time on their side, and a higher ceiling than what Van Gundy had in Orlando. They could be a major issue in the very near future.

On the bright side, we were witness to Minnesota Kevin Love in a wine and gold uniform tonight, and it’s become a common occurrence over the past month. Tonight’s game may have Love  deja  back to his Twolve days too, as his stellar effort was overshadowed by his teammates inconsistent execution followed by a loss. You can make the excuse that the Cavs were tired after a back-to-back, but the Pistons were coming off of one of their own, even though their commute was much shorter, and they probably they got a bed bug free night of rest.

First Quarter

Kevin Love takes Harris down low and scores! #CavsNation #Cavs #Pistons #NBA https://t.co/HN2DzfCxEF

— Cavs Nation (@CavsNationCP) February 23, 2016

Kevin Love used his size advantage over Tobias Harris immediately, and bullied him in the paint for a turnaround hook. On the following Cavalier possession, Love drew a foul on Harris, and wasn’t awarded a trip to the line, even though it appeared he was in the action of shooting during the contact. After the inbounds, Love backed Harris down low again for another pair. Twenty four seconds later, Love set a pick for Kyrie, and rolled to the hoop, and Harris got lost during in the commotion, and Love drew a foul on Drummond at the rack. Love converted on both free throws.

Kyrie dribbled Reggie Jackson into submission and hit a fadaway from the elbow. Tristan Thompson’s hustle on the offensive glass a few possessions later kept the ball in the good guys hands, and Kevin Love opened the bank after hours, with a midrange jumper off the glass. Stan Van called a time out to talk things over. It worked.

At the midway point in the quarter the teams were tangled at 18. The Cavs defensive effort thus far was as lethargic as a sloth in a winery. On one possession, Love didn’t attempt to close out on Marcus Morris, and the good twin drilled a completely uncontested three. On the following Pistons possession, LeBron watched Reggie Jackson go for a layup, like a man with his hands on hips, eyeballing a freshly painted wall to see if it needed another coat of paint.

Ooooweee @KyrieIrving! Pistons lead 33-28 after 1Q.#CavsPistons BOX: https://t.co/8HU4TwTx2qhttps://t.co/I4ubBn9h5J

— Cleveland Cavaliers (@cavs) February 23, 2016

A TT rejection of a Harris drive led to a Kyrie Irving coast to coast up and under layup that maybe three guys in the league could have pulled off. LeBron drew Jackson off of a pick and roll switch, and backed him down into the paint. Three Pistons rallied to the aid of the little fella, and James found Love open in the corner for a three. Jackson’s retort was burring an open three on the other end of the court as Delly got stuck on Drummond while going under the pick. Love then hit a three from the opposite corner off of a pick and pop to bring his total to 14 for the first frame. Love’s brilliant first quarter performance was wasted as the Cavs backcourt was absolutely abused by Jackson and Caldwell-Pope for a combined for 22 of the Pistons points, and the Cavs trailed after one, 33-28.

2nd Quarter

Channing Frye made his Cavaliers debut at the start of the second quarter and he was flanked by Delly, RJ, Mozgov, and Kyrie. One of my favorite things about Lue’s rotations is that he doesn’t employ full hockey substitutions like Blatt did. They should always have one of the big three on the court during the first three quarters until the game in decided. I don’t care which one of them is out there with the zoo crew, but one of them needs to be at all times. Delly scored the Cavs first points of the second with a banking layup high off of the glass in traffic. Two possessions later, Kyrie drove to the right, and as the defense collapsed on him he kicked the ball out to Delly on the left wing, and Delly shot faked Steve Blake off the floor, and took a dribble into an 18-footer.

Mozgov set a Berlin Wall-level pick on Darrun Hilliard, and Kyrie drew a foul on Aron Baynes on his drive and converted both free throws. While it doesn’t really factor into the game itself, Baynes looks like a kid who cut his own hair. We’ve all done it. I want to say I was four. It made sense at the time.

Channing Frye found a trailing Moz with a pass soft enough that Timo actually caught it. With a sea of three Pistons around him, Mozzy hooked it in to cut the Pistons lead to four. Marcus Morris found himself in a lose/lose situation guarding Kyrie on the wing. He opted to play the drive, and Irving buried the jumper to cut it to a one point game. In transition, Jefferson found Kyrie on the wing before the defense could set, and Kyrie nailed the triple to put the Cavs up by two.

"🌀 on him Kyrie!"@MrCavalier34 is loving this #CavsPistons action on @FoxSportsOH.https://t.co/KfFAwn1QZQ

— Cleveland Cavaliers (@cavs) February 23, 2016

Midway through the quarter LeBron returned to the lineup, and on his first Cavs set he paired with Moz for a double screen for Irving at the top of the key on Steve Blake. A second later, Kyrie planted his right foot hard, and put Steve Blake into a blender with a spin move for an elbow jumper.

Kevin Love got plenty of rest after his first quarter offensive assault. On his first attempt of the second, he hit an off-balanced hook through the Harris foul, and converted the three-point play.

Delly justifiably earned the second flagrant of his career in the closing minute of the quarter as he fouled Drummond in midair to the floor. Any foul on a guy who is in mid-flight should be a flagrant. Drummond went on to miss both free throws. While I don’t think Delly is an inherently dirty player, I get where people are coming from in calling him one. He is as chippy as they come, and that’s a large part of his appeal. If he wasn’t a Cavs, we’d probably hate him too. If he’s gonna get credit for being a dirty player, I’m okay with him earning that rep from time to time.

Lue had Love intentionally foul Drummond to get the last possession of the half. Drummond then hit both free throws. After conceding two points on the scoreboard for the last possession,  LeBron pounded the ball into the court for 20 seconds, and found Delly a second two late, which led to an off balance Delly prayer that wasn’t answered,  and the Cavs went into the half trailing 56-49.

3rd Quarter

Reggie Jackson’s abuse of the Cavs backcourt continued into the third quarter as he stripped Thompson on a rebound, and beat a careless LeBron in transition with a hesitation crossover. A Harris running jumper on the next Pistons possession over Thompson promoted Lue to call a timeout two minutes into the half.

The Cavs scoring drought in the second half lasted three plus minutes, until Kyrie Irving drained a step back jumper over Jackson. On the following Cavs possession, Love fumbled the entry pass into the post, then regained control on the wing, and buried a three from the corner over Harris. His three was negated on the other end of the court after Morris drilled a three as LeBron watched from the paint without an attempt at a close out.

The Cavs trailed by 17 with five minutes to go in the quarter. At this very moment watching the game, let alone writing the recap, the entire process started to feel like a chore. They roped me back into caring with ball-movement started by a Love pump fake, and he found Delly for a trey from the corner. Two possessions later, Jefferson drilled a long two off of a Love screen.The Cavs cut the deficit to nine as LeBron found a wide-open J.R. Smith for an uncontested three on the opposite wing.

Jefferson fouled Drummond rather than concede the sure two on a dunk, and he missed both free throws. During the break in the action Frye made his second appearance coming in for Love. I can’t fathom they will spend much time together on the court, and that’s fine.

Fred McLoud lost his cool like a dad during a paternity test on Maury after Drummond wasn’t called a foul on a J.R. drive, and his fury was justified. Drummond was clearly coming forward, and he rejected Smith’s left arm, not the ball. If I drank a bottle of Jameson, and poorly wrote a detailed listing of everything I hate about the NBA, numero uno would be inconsistent officially determined by a player’s reputation. It’s 2016, not 1930. Players aren’t starlets, and a ref isn’t Louie B. Mayer. There should be no star system with NBA officiating. It should be consistent, all of the time, whether it’s a preseason game, or the closing minutes of The Finals. Period.

On the following possession, LeBron drove coast to coast and went straight at Drummond for the left handed layup, hoping to draw another foul on the big fella. In five minutes, they cut a 17 point margin to seven and trailed 75 -68 after three.

4th Quarter

Tobias Harris started the fourth with a three from the left wing. The years long debate over whether or not he’s a three or a four will be answered over the next few months. I’ve always fancied him as a small ball four, who could excel in the right situation. If he gets a smidgen better from downtown, he’ll be the perfect compliment to Drummond, and that’s absolutely terrifying.

As bad as the Cavs third quarter opening looked, it was a snow day reprieve from school compared to the futility they showed in the first five minutes of the fourth. It was seriously the worst basketball we’ve seen by them outside of when the players were throwing games to get Blatt fired. During those putrid first five minutes they missed their first 10 shots from the field, and ball movement screeched to a halt in favor of chucking up shots like a fat old man at the Y who was too tired to even attempt driving to the rack. As great as that 10-0 run was to close the third, they conceded it in the next six minutes, and trailed by 18 at the midway point of the quarter.

The Cavs mounted another comeback as Kyrie beat Jackson off the dribble for a diving layup. Kyrie doesn’t hit the deck as much as he used to on drives, and that’s certainly a positive that we’ve underreported. On the other end of the court, Kyrie quickly closed out on a Steve Blake three, which rattled out. It’s crazy how much worse the opponent shoots when you actually attempt to stop him. LeBron then drew a double team in the post and found Kyrie for a three from the wing, which led to a Stan Van TO.

LeBron with the steal and the slam! #CavsNation #Cavs #Pistons #NBA https://t.co/Kuk02dcoFw

— Cavs Nation (@CavsNationCP) February 23, 2016

Kyrie took Caldwell-Pope though the spin cycle off of a Mozgov pick and roll, and feed the big fella for a driving dunk. LeBron intercepted an under-thrown pass, and woke up the hibernating crowd and stuck the landing for a two-handed jam to cut the deficit to nine. LeBron then made his defensive play of the night diving to deflect of crosscourt Drummond pass, which led to Kyrie earning a trip to the free throw line off of a Harris foul. Kyrie split the pair.

After a switch on a pick, Morris was matchup up with Kyrie on the perimeter again. This time Morris played Irving a little tighter, and was promptly beaten off the dribble for a high banking layup off of the glass to make it a two possession game. Reggie Jackson finally broke the Cavs 12-0 scoring run with a driving floater which gave the Pistons a 10 point lead with just a minute and a half remaining. Mozgov extended the Cavs possession with a back tap, but it was too little, too late.

With 27 seconds left in the quarter Lue raised the white flag and made a hockey substitution pulling the starters. On the final play of a game that was lost quarters earlier, Delly feed Frye and he hit a turnaround jumper for his first points as a Cavalier. 96-88 Pistons

Yay

Kevin Love is on a revenge tour from being snubbed for his All-Star omission, and I’m excited for the ride. He looks healthy, and more confident than he has during his entire Cavs tenure. His shot has arc, and he had his moments on defense such as causing a shot clock violation on Morris in the third quarter.

After the game, coach Ty Lue said that he considered resting LeBron James on the backend of back to backs to prepare him for the playoffs. Many say that resting players robs paying fans of their hard earned dough, and they have a point. Efforts like we saw for 30 minutes of tonight’s game would make me feel ripped off too. If guys need rest, give them rest. If a game is truly lost because of effort, make a point and pull them.

Boo

After the Cavs loss to the Celtics in the 2010 playoffs, LeBron stated that he spoiled Cavs fans. Many took exception with his comments, but I totally agreed with him. There were multiple times I’ve gone to Cavs games and the crowd was dead. Tonight was one of those nights. I get that the crowd feeds off of the action on the court, but the fans were just as bad. I can’t imagine a crowd in Boston being that quiet. I’ve been guilty of it myself. I was three rows from the court for the Timberwolves game, and didn’t lose my voice. Perhaps, I was still in shell shock from the Blatt firing, or I just wanted the Lola to digest. I dunno.

LeBron is so consistently good, broken shot included, that bad nights like this one stand out as such a contrast. I’m not absolving him at all for his effort. He was absolutely terrible on both ends of the court to the broken tune of 12 points on 18 shots to go with six turnovers. Being the the leader of a team, comes with the cost of having the responsibility to set the tone though. That’s true in every facet of life, not just basketball, and it was his worst effort I can remember from him.

Until Wednesday folks.