Recap: Detroit 124, Cleveland 115 (IT’s a Shame, IT’s a Pity)

The Wine and Gold suffered a demoralizing loss to the shorthanded Detroit Pistons, Tuesday. Not only did they lose the game in confidence-sapping fashion, but they also lost Kevin Love who broke his left hand early in the game and could be out a rumored six to eight weeks. The game was over when Isaiah Thomas checked in for Dwyane Wade with 6:29 left in the fourth and the Cavs’ down by three. Instead of letting Thomas ride the pine down the stretch like he did Sunday, Lue chose to play him and end all hope the Cavs had of winning.

I chose one of my favorite all-time album opening tracks to head this recap. It’s a shame that the Cavaliers traded for Isaiah Thomas, and it’s a pity that he’s currently the worst player in the NBA.

I wasn’t the only one that had this reaction to Isaiah’s re-insertion. LeBron James’ demeanor changed to an incarnation of Hillary Clinton on election night when Thomas entered for Wade. James’ defense and energy immediately lagged as the Pistons ripped off a 16-5 run against LBJ, Thomas, and the rest of their demoralized teammates. Thomas finished with a game low -25 plus/minus on 3-10 shooting with six turnovers in 33 minutes. To be fair, Isaiah did go 12-13 from the line and added five dimes, but despite flopping his way into half a dozen points at the line, his play was perpetually putrid, and it is painfully clear that his teammates don’t believe in him any more than I do.

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First Quarter: The game started as meekly as it ended as Thomas turned it over four times in first five minutes. He’d have had five turnovers, but one hit a Piston on the play where Kevin Love hurt his hand. It was a routine post-up where it just appeared that Love caught his hand at a weird angle against Anthony Tolliver, who didn’t do anything dirty. An eerie pall gripped the Cavs and their fans as Love went to the locker room for x-rays. A broken fist balled up in the pit of my stomach.

The Pistons edged away and early it looked like Reggie Bullock would be the Piston going scrub fuego as he drove past Cavs on poor closeouts or scored at the rim on cuts while also firing away form three for nine first quarter points. Stanley Johnson kept pace as the quarter wore on with nine of his own, on a coast to coast, some heady drives, a three, and a persistent two-offensive-rebound grinder basket. The Cavs were playing four on five on both ends of the floor as Thomas was just out of control on offense. With no angles to pass the ball, I.T. forced it into terrible windows, and the Cavs didn’t seem to run many coherent sets for him to get going.

Remarkably, after Thomas went to the bench, the team started picking it up as James recorded a couple of thunderous dunks and Channing Frye finished the quarter with a dribble drive from the right corner for a tough man’s and-1 to goose the score, 33-27 Pistons.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X5TdhTOlDB0

Second Quarter: The team hit a good rhythm, and even played some solid defense as they kept chipping away at the Piston lead. Even Isaiah Thomas had some nice plays as he scored eight (five at the line) and was +9 in the quarter (which tells you how awful the rest of the game was for him). James added eight of his own, including another dunk off a nifty Thomas drop pass in the pick and roll, and Channing Frye had himself yet another and-1. While Frye couldn’t match Drummond’s athleticism around the basket, he matched his physicality and energy and did a great job of banging and fighting to keep Drummond off the boards and allow his teammates’ to rebound. Cleveland started piling up enough stops, rebounds, and threes to get the lead back. Little Isaiah even took a painful looking charge from a rumbling Drummond.

Dwyane Wade added six and LeBron eight of the Cavs’ 36 points, as the Cavs shot 60% in the period. For the Pistons, Reggie Bullock chipped in another seven by moving without the ball and finding the (many) creases in the Cavs’ defense. But the quarter definitely marked the Cavs’ best stretch of the game as the ended the half up 63-59. They would’ve been up six if LeBron’s buzzer beater hadn’t been ruled too late by a fingernail still brushing the ball as the clock read zero.

Third Quarter: The news of Love’s broken hand leaked out by half time, and we were understandably glum, including the Cavalier starters which now included Crowder. They got mostly smoked by the Pistons starting front court, as Anthony Tolliver, Stanley Johnson, and Andre Drummond each dropped nine as they beat a path to the rim and the Cavs’ starters went 3-17 in the period. Meanwhile, Tristan Thompson showed us that, no, he cannot finish one handed, as he went 0-3 including this weak attempt at the basket that got obliterated by Andre I’m-gonna-guard-three-people Drummond.

J.R. was similarly groan inducing as he went 0-4 including a couple of baffling forays into the paint where he tried to score over multiple guys and also had his candle snuffed out by Drummond. Smith was -14 in the quarter, and Thomas -13.

The only saving grace was the Cavalier bench and a smoking hot Channing Frye who sizzled 3-4 from outside the arc as Drummond wouldn’t come out to guard him when he and LeBron would run pick-and-pop-a-shot. Unfortunately, a miscommunication at the end of the quarter led to a missed opportunity on such a play as instead a shot for Channing or the King, Langston Galloway got a steal to close out the quarter, 89-84 Pistons.

Fourth Quarter: I thought Lue knew what he was doing when Isaiah played nine minutes of the third. “OK, I thought, He’ll run Thomas for the first three minutes, then play Wade down the stretch.” Due to some gifts from the officials, despite giving up ten points to the likes of Dwight Buycks and Anthony Tolliver (by murdering Tristan Thompson on switches), the Isaiah lineup only bled three points off the diff in the first 3:27 before Thomas was subbed for LeBron with the Cavs trailing by only seven. “OK, they got this,” I opined.

Kyle Kenny Powers Korver promptly swished two triples on his patented left wing curl, and the deficit decremented to three a minute later. Then I noticed and exclaimed…

“What in the name of all that is good and holy is Isaiah Thomas doing back in the game!!!!!?”

Sure Wade had played a while without a blow, but anyone with a brain knew this game was over if Thomas was playing. Those people included LeBron who pretty much gave up on defending anyone or trying. Ish Smith nailed two jumpers that LeBron should have obliterated. Despite a miracle three by Crowder, Reggie Bullock forced a timeout as LeBron was forced to collapse to the key to cover for Isaiah “traffic-cone” Thomas and the Pistons easily swung the ball to Bullock for three.

After the timeout, James looked checked out, as he threw the ball away on a drive. Ish Smith cheated off of Thomas knowing that LeBron wouldn’t pass to him and got a back breaking steal and was fouled on the layup to put the Pistons up nine.

James clearly didn’t trust his teammates as he ball-hogged his way into two more turnovers and jacked a give-up triple try while Stanley Johnson canned his 26th point and a Drummond thump pushed the piston lead to 16.

James then literally checked out and the only note of garbage time was seeing Frye drop his 20th point on an Eff-Lue triple with 1:34 left before our final score, 125-114, Pistons.

Ugh

Clearly, something was either said to Ty Lue about playing Thomas in crunch time. Ty’s either trying to prove a point to Thomas, being told by the front office who to play, doesn’t care about winning, or is just a bad coach. But oh-my-God, it is completely obvious that LeBron HATES playing with Isaiah Thomas.

It is beyond ridiculous that Dan Gilbert’s penchant for short point guards who can’t play might be the reason LeBron leaves Cleveland. It’s so obvious that Thomas is the worst player on the court every night. Yes, the Cavs have plenty of other problems, but none of them are even broachable while Thomas is playing for this team.

The numbers are in for Isaiah. He’s posting an RPM of -3.48, 93rd among point guards, and he’s the only player in the bottom fifty point guards playing over 25 minutes a night. And this is on a team where most lineups include LeBron James and Kevin Love, two very good RPM players. He’s averaging 6.2 three point attempts per game yet shooting 27% on them. He’s shooting 39% from the field overall, and averaging 3.9 assists and 2.6 turnovers. His raw numbers are worse.

Cavs with Isaiah Thomas On
Tonight: 97.9 oRTG, 125.3 dRTG
This season: 103.1 oRTG, 118.2 dRTG

Cavs with Isaiah Thomas Off
Tonight: 127.2 oRTG, 92.3 dRTG
This season: 110.9 oRTG, 108.6 dRTG

— Mike Zavagno (@MZavagno11) January 31, 2018

How is he getting minutes while the Cavs are keeping Calderon, Rose, and Cedi Osman on the bench? How would the Cavs be worse off starting Osman at point guard? This about sums it up. Further, he still has no step. He was being guarded by a defender just idly standing up 30 feet from the basket. If he can’t blow by a lock-kneed defender that far from the hole, then a five-foot-nine, he is not playable. And when healthy he’s a horrible fit with LeBron as a guy who can only thrive with very high usage with the ball in his hands, as his off-ball usage is fairly limited. Oh, and when defenders see him defending the break after a long rebound, their eyes light up.

"When it comes to basketball, he's all about getting his shots and he's all about getting paid."

— @TheJonasKnox: As good as Isaiah Thomas is, his teams seem to be thrilled when he’s gone. https://t.co/lThugWsuB6 pic.twitter.com/MPAjVAxEmG

— FOX Sports Radio (@FoxSportsRadio) January 30, 2018

Forgive me for understanding why LeBron can’t stand playing with him. We all heard this from Ken Berger’s Bleacher Report article, yesterday.

Thomas has become a favorite of Gilbert, and they often exchange calls and text messages, a league source familiar with their relationship told B/R. This isn’t necessarily unusual on a team with an owner who is as involved in the basketball side of things as Gilbert is. It also isn’t great for locker room chemistry, because the rest of the players know it.

“LeBron just looks at everybody as a shill for Dan,” the league source said.

For someone who’s made it a goal to make sure NBA players (especially he and his friends) get paid and that players are respected, independent, and outspoken, Thomas sidling up to Gilbert while being an absolute boat anchor on the court has got to be galling. And te bottom line is this: if LeBron can’t stand playing with someone, they shouldn’t be on the team. Period.

When it comes to Thomas’ and Gilbert’s relationship, as the Kanye song goes, “I ain’t sayin’ he a gold digger, but…”

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The Cavs transition D was a nightmare. In the funniest sequence of the night, four Cavaliers crashed the offensive board which left a four-on-one break by the Pistons with I.T. as the only one back. I’m sure you can tell how it ended.  The Pistons ended up pushing on every long rebound and turnover and getting to the rim on drives to score 44 paint points in the first half and 68 in the game. Again, the whole team seems to have a “Why bother” attitude when Thomas is in the game.

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J.R. Smith: 2-10, no threes, -13. The Cavs have to improve their starting backcourt. That’s the only way they’ll compete.

Meh.

Tristan Thompson was ok, but again, I don’t understand why the Cavs aren’t having him retreat a bit to keep from overswitching. The Pistons Wings were lighting him up. His defensive positioning was gbad. Still, eight points, 10 boards in 27 minutes. I’ll take it.

Stanley Johnson dropped a career high 26 in 40 minutes on 21 shots to go along with ten rebounds and four dimes. The Cavs really bumped his confidence, and this seems like the kind of confidence boost games a lot of guys get against Cavs that they end up regretting later. Reggie Bullock added 22 including 4-6 from three, and Anthony Tolliver added another 20. For a team that “doesn’t have any wings” if Bullock and Johnson can use this momentum, the Pistons are gonna be a witch.

LeBron with 21, six boards, and seven dimes, but four turnovers and a melt down in crunch time. At least his jumper looks ok from the left side. He had a couple elbow jumpers and left wing threes, but he won’t even shoot from the right wing and probably shouldn’t.  James played 20 minutes in the first half and 38 over all. He looked gassed and pissed at the end.

I guess Crowder is going to be the starting power forward. I’d start Green. He might even be a worse rebounder though.

I’m too tired to rant about Ty Lue. Seriously though, There has to be 12 minutes somewhere for Cedi (who was inactive)… That might be the least of my concerns.

The Cavs need another big to get through till April, but at least we don’t have to listen to Kevin Love trade rumors.

Yay.

The bench unit: Wade (18, eight, and five), Korver (10 points), and Frye (20, six boards, two blocks) were really good. Wade should’ve been playing down the stretch over Thomas, and Frye over Thompson as Drummond just controlled the paint (21 points, 22 rebounds, seven dimes, three blocks, three steals) and the Cavs couldn’t keep the Pistons from packing it… Wade was +15 on the game, and he and Frye were by far the two best non-LeBrons.

We get to watch the Cavs Wednesday… LeBron is still here.

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Leonard Cohen sums up how I feel about the Cavs right now.

[perfectpullquote align=”full” bordertop=”false” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]It’s a shame and it’s a pity
I know you can’t forgive me
The ending got so ugly
You never ever loved me
Dreamed about you baby
I know you have to hate me
I’m naked and I’m filthy
And both of us are guilty
Anyhow
Have mercy on me baby[/perfectpullquote]