Recap: Pistons 129, Cavs 93 (Or, An Ugly Bit of Basketball)

What can I say? The Cavaliers didn’t manage to put up much of a fight in the front end of this back-to-back. Without Kevin Love, the team crumbled back into their pre-All Star break malaise as they lost this one at the 8:25 mark of the first quarter. The Cavs allowed the Pistons to jump out to a 19 point first quarter lead and that was all they were willing to endure this night as things just got uglier from there. I’ll keep it brief since Cleveland wasn’t willing to give me much to work with for this recap.

The first quarter really set the tone for the ugly play that we’d witness for the rest of the night. As I said, this one was lost from the 8:25 mark in the quarter when Reggie Jackson made a floater to put the Pistons up by two. The next time down the court Jackson launched a three to go up 12-7 and Detroit never looked back. Sexton was clearly outmatched as Jackson put up 24 on 9-11 shooting compared to the rookies own 16 on 3-13, including 0-3 from distance. After Jackson’s made three, Cleveland didn’t score again until they were already down by 12. Hey, at least Larry Nance Jr. can hit wide open threes. See the evidence below. The damage continued until the Cavaliers were down 42-23 at the end of the first. Don’t get optimistic because things didn’t get any better from here.

.@Larrydn22 has hit 6 of his last 12 3’s 💦 pic.twitter.com/7Zriq6zj5M

— FOX Sports Ohio (@FOXSportsOH) March 2, 2019

While the second quarter featured less scoring by Detroit, it also featured less scoring by Cleveland. The Cavs already couldn’t afford much of a drop off. Alas, they only managed to add 15 to their 23 point first quarter. It was so bad that Channing Frye got garbage time minutes all the way at the start of the quarter. And guess what, the big man scored a third of their points for the frame as he got a dunk off a sweet back door and then followed it up with a three. You can see the sequence below. Unfortunately, that was about the only thing worth seeing from the second. The only other non-free throw points came from a Nance layup and a three by Marquese Chriss. The half ended about as bad as it could with the Pistons nearly doubling the Cavaliers point total, 71-38 after two.

Go off then, @Channing_Frye! 💪#BeTheFight pic.twitter.com/oa59HXV9LK

— Cleveland Cavaliers (@cavs) March 2, 2019

Cleveland actually outscored Detroit in the third quarter but by then things were long out of hand. After starting things off with an offensive foul and a turnover, Brandon Knight and Cedi Osman both managed to hit a three to pull within… 36. Yeah, this one was ugly indeed. Knight, who finished the evening with 10 points on 3-8 shooting, paired a second three with another one from Cedi, who went for a similar night of 10 points on 3-9 shooting. The rest of the quarter was sprinkled with a couple more makes from Chriss and Nance from distance and a chunk of free throws. Still, it was an ugly site going into the fourth as Cleveland was down 100-72. You can see a few of those made threes, though.

Keep fighting, fellas.
👊 || @FOXSportsOH pic.twitter.com/KVicXNTReY

— Cleveland Cavaliers (@cavs) March 2, 2019

Cleveland returned to their difficulty scoring for the fourth quarter, finishing things out with a 21 point final frame. At least Channing made another three. The big man finished the night with 8 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, and a block. And he had one of the better nights for the Cavs. Stauskas, who led the team in +/- with a -10, did have a pretty sweet dunk. But ultimately, it was like trying to put make-up on a turd. The final tally for this one was 129-93. Look, here’s Nik Stauskas’s drive.

🔥🔥🔥 SAUCY 🔥🔥🔥@NStauskas11 || @FOXSportsOH pic.twitter.com/hHPjGMxVQG

— Cleveland Cavaliers (@cavs) March 3, 2019

Some Notes:

1) Five Cavaliers scored in double figures tonight. Which is good. What isn’t good is that other than Sexton, they barely scored in double digits. What’s worse is that the rest of the team only accounted for 35 points total.

2) Turnovers weren’t really an issue, nor was their three point shooting as they actually shot a respectable 38% from distance. It wasn’t their free throws either. Unfortunately, their effort levels on the defensive end were nearly non-existent and they actually shot better from distance than they did inside the arc. They finished the night with an ugly 34% from the field.

3) Kevin Love is one of the most underrated players in the NBA and his absence was glaring in this one. Especially on the rebounding end of things. Cleveland got out-rebounded 51-33. That won’t cut it.

Cleveland plays again right away so hopefully things get a bit better on the back end of this pair of games. Kevin Love will return to the lineup so hopefully that portends good things. As always, Go Cavs!