Recap: Cavs 104, Pistons 81 (Or, Complete Annihilation)

The Cavs needed to win tonight after losing to the Pacers on Tuesday. They didn’t disappoint, as they delivered a butt whooping to remember to the Pistons. Detroit got out to a 6-0 lead to start the game, but after that point, the Cavs out scored them 82-50 before garbage time started in the fourth quarter. They led by as many as 33 points in the third quarter.

The big three led the Wine and Gold on their way to total domination, and they were efficient. LeBron James had 21 points on 9-14 shooting to go with three boards and three assists. Kevin Love had 12 points and 13 rebounds. He shot 50% from the field. Kyrie Irving had the best night of any Cavalier. He had 11 assists and zero turnovers (the best assist line of the season so far for any player). He also had 25 points on 11-15 shooting and was 3-4 from deep. Everything Irving did worked this game.

First Quarter

The Cavs started the night a little rough. They allowed to Detroit to hit two 3s early on. Tyronn Lue was not having it and immediately called a timeout after the second one fell, despite being just 1:38 into the game. Whatever he said worked. Kyrie had one of his best quarters as a Cav dishing the ball out seven times. Six of Irving’s assists resulted in gimme shots at the rim. He hooked Tristan Thompson up for one of the cruelest lobs of the year. Kyrie threw the pass from the baseline after a TT screen, and TT ran in to climb up Andre Drummond‘s back to finish it. Marcus Morris looked at Andre after the dunk and said, “I think you gotta retire man.”

https://vine.co/v/5T0b3Mzhb6e

J.R. Smith hit 3-4 deep shots. His final one of the quarter  came after he stole the ball from Ish Smith. The Cavs moved the ball on the offensive end and got up the floor to attack a startled Detroit defense. 11 of their 12 made buckets were assisted on. The Cavs’ defensive intensity was equally impressive, and even though Detroit hung on for a little bit, the Cavs were just too precise. Tristan Thompson had three blocks in the final six minutes, and the rest of the team was running out to open shooters on the perimeter. Detroit shot just 29.6% from the floor in the quarter to be down, 30-19.

Second Quarter

The Cavs continued to play tough defense. LeBron started the quarter blocking Tobias Harris. Harris freaked out; the King drained the resulting technical free throw. Cleveland’s offense turned into a mix of baskets hit in semi-transition situations and baskets hit from one-on-one play. Irving, specifically, hit two beautiful jumpers over Kentavious Caldwell-Pope. Each time the Pistons tried to come back, Lue showed how cold blooded he is.

After the defense gave up a Drummond dunk down the middle of the lane off a Beno Udrih pass to bring the Pistons within nine, Lue called a timeout. That was really the only time Drummond got off in the quarter, as TT and Love both did a fine job of keeping him from hitting shots. Lue pulled the timeout trigger early, so the Pistons would have absolutely no momentum offensively. Love made sure the Cavs ended the quarter on a positive note. After getting an offensive rebound near the right corner with 36 seconds till half time, he dribbled by Jon Leuer and got a shot to fall in off the glass above Andre’s reach. The Cavs went to the locker room up, 56-39.

Third Quarter

During third quarter the Cavs got their biggest lead of the night, while the Pistons just rolled over to them. LeBron started out the action hitting a turnaround shot from the left baseline. A few plays later Kyrie ran a pick and roll with James. Irving was one of the screeners. He rolled and finished the play. Kyrie was brilliant the whole time he was on the floor in this frame. He had 14 points. His final 3-pointer came with 25 seconds left. It was nearly 30 feet out, and it stopped a Pistons 9-0 run.

LeBron hit 4-5 shots from the floor, even though they were all jumpers. The Cavs scored in a variety of ways, but they pretty much just beat Detroit in one-on-one situations. Who can blame them though? Look at this Irving shot. Unstoppable.

Kyrie, from deep in Geauga County as the @cavs' lead balloons to 26!#CavsPistons

STREAM: https://t.co/CCl4zjA9vl pic.twitter.com/ArEaZqPqfJ

— Bally Sports Cincinnati (@BallySportsCIN) November 19, 2016

The team hustled. After J.R. dropped a Kevin Love touchdown pass that was a sure thing, he came back down the floor and dove on the floor to get a loose ball he ripped from Andre Drummond beneath the hoop. The defense held strong allowing Detroit just 17 points because everyone did their part. Going into the fourth Cleveland had the game locked up, 82-56.

Garbage Time

The Cavs treated the fourth quarter as garbage time. They trotted out a lineup of Mike Dunleavy, DeAndre Liggins, Iman Shumpert, Channing Frye, and Richard Jefferson. Shumpert was the lone Cavalier that stood out. He hit two 3s in a row and even crossed up his defender to get to the hoop for a manly and-1 against Darrun Hilliard. Mike Dunleavy hit a 3-pointer, and James Jones even made a short appearance. He, even though it probably doesn’t need to be said, hit his first shot. Jon Leuer of the Pistons shined playing with second unit guys. He was easily the best guy on the floor hitting a 3 and getting fouled two different times after sucking up offensive boards. It says a lot about Jon that he looked unplayable when the Cavs had their starters on the floor. Or, maybe that says a lot about the Cavs.

The highlight of the quarter came when League Pass didn’t cut away from what was going on at the Q and rickrolled me. Yes, the League Pass made me watch the entire “Never Gonna Give You Up” video.

Gripes

-The only gripe I really have is why didn’t Kay Felder dress? DeAndre Liggins doesn’t seem to be anything special, and Jordan McRae, to quote blog poster Joey B, “is like retirement tour kobe.” McRae loves to shoot the rock from anywhere no matter who is covering him. He was 2-7 and had seven points. The Cavs should give Felder a chance. He has upside, which is more than Liggins and McRae have at this point.

Hypes

-The Cavs managed to hold the Pistons to 31.2% shooting from the floor. And, the shots the Pistons made, outside of the first three minutes of the game and the fourth quarter, were essentially lucky. They were over outstretched arms. Part of the reason the Cavs were so effective on defense tonight was because they stayed fairly honest when covering the pick and roll. They didn’t have random guys helping. The man getting screened fought through the screen and then whoever was covering the screener dropped to prevent penetration. There was no hard trapping. And, whenever an extra guy helped on the pick and roll the Cavs rotated crisply and had someone running at the open shooter.

-It also helped that the Pistons struggled to just run pick and rolls in general. Ish Smith has trouble turning the corner to penetrate and doesn’t seem to be a huge lob throwing threat with Drummond.

-No one on the Pistons, outside of Jon Leuer (15 points), had more than ten points tonight.

-Ty Lue called timeouts perfectly this game. He had a lot of Popovich style ones where he was calling them because the Cavs messed up just once on defense and gave up an easy basket. He kept doing it despite the game being so lopsided, which takes discipline. He imposed his a will a lot on this game.

-Offensively, Lue had the Cavs run a lot of pick and rolls using two smaller guys. He had the wings setting screens. It was an awesome plan, because it kept Andre Drummond out of the picture defensively. He had to worry about keeping Tristan and Love off the glass, so he wasn’t free to wonder over and swat shots if they weren’t involved in the pick and roll.

-Offensively, Drummond was stuck in the paint tonight. He didn’t run a ton of screens. This kept TT by the rim to protect it. And, protect it he did getting four blocks. TT also kept Andre from scoring despite how close he got to the hoop when catching some of his passes. Drummond had just eight points on 4-12 shooting. He looked borderline unplayable as an offensive threat. He needs Reggie Jackson back so he can get some easy lobs.

-Kevin Love is continuing to show that he’s confident. He had several dribble moves tonight to get past Jon Leuer. He’s no longer hesitating when he shoots it, and he’s battling to get to his spots on the floor. Offensive bada@@ Kevin looks like he’s here to stay.

-The Cavs started the night out getting lots of assists for easy shots at the rim. They had 26 assists total. Once they broke Detroit’s will to play in the first, they were able to exploit one-on-one situations. It worked out well, and the Cavs should always go one-on-one if an oppoentn can’t figure out how to stop them. Why risk a turnover passing?

-The Cavs have a mini vacation until their next game on Wednesday against the Blazers.