Recap: Cavs 126, Pistons 119 (or, The Young Bully)

I’ve underestimated Collin Sexton. I realize that’s a strange admission from someone who fully endorsed the Cleveland Cavaliers selecting the Alabama point guard with the 8th pick in last year’s NBA Draft. But, there’s that whole phenomenon when recency and bias collide, especially when expectations and reality do not.

I’ll get to the game in a moment… but, it’s worth pointing out the dramatic shift in the outlook for this Cavalier rookie who’s had one heck of a roller coaster ride this season. Check that. Sexton himself has never wavered from his humbly positive disposition as he’s espoused his hard work and steadfast determination to continually grow and get better. Instead, it’s been the rest of us watching him that have experienced the queasy highs and lows of that growth in the aftermath of what was, until very recently, a perennial championship contending team.

Many were initially bitter that Sexton was the ultimate fruit reaped by the trade that sent Kyrie Irving to Boston. He might now wear #2… but, there was no fathomable way he’d fill Uncle Drew’s ankle-breaking shoes. Those who did like the rat-tail sporting, self-proclaimed “Young Bull” saw him as an ultra-quick slasher who might live up to his moniker with tough, slap-the-floor, tiger-crouch, crazy-eyed defensive prowess. His shot wasn’t great, and he might never be that superstar level scorer… but his speed and tenacity might at least help him be a solid playmaker.

With the exception of quickness, none of that was true… at least for the 2018 part of the season. Sexton was predictably disastrous defensively as a rookie… joining fellow rookie PG Trae Young in the RPM cellar. The blips of speedy brilliance were swallowed in his paltry assist levels, lack of court awareness,  inability to modulate gears, propensity for ineffective mid-range jumpers and his reluctance to use the glass on drives. About the only thing that came as advertised was his poor shooting. He wasn’t Gum Drop Bear level magnitude of bust-worthiness… but it was troublesome that some of his veteran teammates were grumbling that Sexton didn’t know how to play the game.

The low point might’ve been Sexton being excluded from the Rising Stars Game during the All Star Break, while later picks like Kevin Knox, Shai-Gilgeous Alexander and Josh Okogie passed him by. Maybe that lit a fire under the Young Bull… but, there’s no question his shooting has turned around since the beginning of 2019. He’s changed his game to not only modulate his speed, but to also embrace the three point shot, and is up over 41% on the year. He recently passed Kyrie Irving’s rookie three pointer mark, and just accomplished something that neither Irving nor LeBron James did in their rookie campaigns by scoring 20+ points in five consecutive games. He notched his sixth (tying Austin Carr) Monday night at the Q against the Pistons… and, he did it by being an absolute bully in the fourth quarter.

Lookin' good Rook! @CollinSexton02#BeTheFight pic.twitter.com/OVP2lk3HYI

— Bally Sports Cincinnati (@BallySportsCIN) March 19, 2019

My expectations were low for a Cavalier win in this one, with the wine & gold essentially missing nearly every big man rebounder on the roster (Kevin Love, Tristan Thompson, Larry Nance Jr. and John Henson) while going against the NBA’s biggest glass monster (Andre Drummond). But, the Cavs surprised me… and the Pistons… by shooting the absolute lights out of the building to the tune of 58% from the field, and 50% from downtown. Though they predictably lost the rebounding and second chance points battles… they feasted from the perimeter, in the paint and dominated the fast break opportunities. The Cavs also got key contributions from unlikely sources like David Nwaba, Nik Stauskas and Marquese Chriss, as well as solid games from Cedi Osman, Ante Zizic, Brandon Knight and Jordan Clarkson. And, in the middle of it all was the Young Bull… pushing the pace and dropping ice cold daggers on Detroit.

The first quarter was the roughest one of the night for the short-handed Cavs. Even though the Pistons decided to rest Blake Griffin, they still took advantage of the porous Cavalier defense both inside and out. Reggie Jackson couldn’t miss a shot, and Drummond seemingly volleyballed every Pistons miss into a second chance bucket. Still, it wasn’t terrible, as the Cavs kept pace for the majority of the quarter with some hot shooting by the starters… including a pair of Cedi Osman floaters (which I’m assuming he attempted in Delly’s honor)…

Did you learn that from @matthewdelly, @cediosman?#BeTheFight @FOXSportsOH pic.twitter.com/vzspHkytn4

— Cleveland Cavaliers (@cavs) March 18, 2019

Things went a bit south with the reserves as Chriss, Stauskas and Clarkson all missed open threes, and noted Cav killer, Ish “Don’t Call Me Ishmael” Smith, got loose. The Cavs found themselves down seven after a questionable JC foul of Luke Kennard on a three point attempt… 32-25.

It was more of the same from the reserves to kick off the second quarter, as the Piston lead swelled to 11 thanks to the contributions of old pal, ZaZa Patchouli Oil and the continued relentlessness of Ish Smith. Without Delly (concussion) and Nwaba (moved to starting unit to sub for Love) providing perimeter defense, the Pistons were able to freely rain triples. After a timely Larry Drew timeout, he rotated most of the starters back in and the gap began to close. The Cavs ran off of long Detroit misses and turnovers, using their speed to score easily in transition. They took the lead on a Cedi steal and assist to a streaking Sexton… then came the exclamation point courtesy of a nifty Nwaba dish to a rampaging Zizic…

Tonight's @StateFarm #AssistOfTheNight is a strong one.

#BeTheFight pic.twitter.com/8AUs5GeT6Z

— Cleveland Cavaliers (@cavs) March 19, 2019

A Wayne Ellington trey (the former Herculoid hit 7-13 on the night) and a couple of easy putback dunks by Drummond gave the Pistons the slight edge going into halftime… 61-60.

The third period started sloppily with both teams turning the ball over or getting blocked on offensive possessions. The Young Bull in particular seemed to be forcing the action a bit as he drove into traffic early and got stuffed, and also committed three of his four turnovers in the frame. On the flip side, however, he had this insanely great bounce-pass dime to Osman that could probably have put a smile on even LeBron James’ Laker-weary face…

This is just beautiful.#BeTheFight pic.twitter.com/EyFtKlChBO

— Cleveland Cavaliers (@cavs) March 19, 2019

A three point barrage from Ellington gave Detroit a small cushion late in the quarter, but timely buckets from Clarkson and Chriss helped the Cavs deadlock the scoring in the period at 27 a piece. Cavs trailed by one, 88-87.

Chriss helped kick off the final frame with a bang, as he threw down an alley oop from Knight. Then, we got to witness Nik Stauskas’ Sauce Explosion. Senior Castillo splashed several threes on his way to a spicy hot quarter, where he scored 15 of his 17 points. Yet, the Pistons kept things even with Luke Kennard, Langston Galloway and Ellington all dropping deep bombs. Just when it looked like the Cavs might finally be succumbing in the end (i.e. tanking) to a team fighting for its playoff life… the Young Bull started bullying Detroit. Sexton hit three dead-eye triples… each more cold blooded than the last. Cedi hit an impressive one also during the stretch, but this was the final dagger…

ICE. COLD.@CollinSexton02 just did that.#BeTheFight pic.twitter.com/QnM588uFHT

— Cleveland Cavaliers (@cavs) March 19, 2019

In the end, the Cavs got sweet revenge on the Pistons for the 36 point beatdown administered two weeks ago in Cleveland. A 126-119 wine & gold winner.

The Evil

Hard to find too much wrong with a short-handed win over a potential playoff team, especially one in which the Cavs shot the ball as well as they did. Sure, they gave up a ton of easy boards and layups, but they had only Zizic and Chriss to count on against Detroit’s front line. I mean, they had 6’4 David Nwaba guarding 7’1 Thon Maker for much of the night. To Nwaba’s credit, he played some terrific D as a massively undersized PF.

The two glaring negatives were the usual suspects on defense… Jordan Clarkson (-14) and Marquese Chriss (-12), who didn’t have a whole lot of interest in contesting perimeter shots or blocking out in the paint respectively. They did both shoot fairly well and efficiently though, as JC was 6-10 and Quese was 4-8.

The Pistons shot twice as many threes as the Cavs (44 vs. 22), and still made a healthy 40% of theirs… but again, it’s hard to excoriate the defense too much with the limited hands on deck. Plus, last time I checked… Mike Longabardi was still driving the tank.

The Genius

I spent a lot of time on Sexton above, but this was yet another mostly terrific performance in a string of them lately. Yes, he struggled as he forced some drives and attempts at playmaking early in the third, but it was genuinely exciting to see his killer instinct kick in to close out the game. For a guy who was never advertised as a three point shooter, he once again raised his season average by knocking down 5-6 from deep (10-16 overall). Maybe he’ll never be a true facilitating point guard, but he’s showing strong signs of becoming a dynamic scoring guard.

Sexton is fast, but so is Cedi Osman. The young Turk has a knack for running the fast break, and did it with aplomb tonight repeatedly. Cedi has also been stuffing the stat sheet lately, and scored 21 on 7-14 shooting with four boards and a half dozen dimes.

Brandon Knight continued his upward trend towards his old pre-injury self with 16 points, five assists and four boards. He also hit two key triples in the first half to keep things close.

As mentioned, David Nwaba took on the task of filling in at PF, and played some terrific gritty defense down low. He went 5-6 for 13 points (most on bully ball buckets at the rim), and tacked on six rebounds, four assists, a steal and a big time swat.

Ante Zizic did yeoman’s work against Andre Drummond. He only finished with eight points and six boards, but was a team high +23 in just 25 minutes of play.

It was a breakout game for Nik Stauskas as he exploded for 17 points on 5-7 shooting (2-3 from beyond the arc). A few more saucy showings like this and the Cavs might consider keeping him around next year…

Despite his defensive shortcomings, Marquese Chriss notched himself a double double (10 points, 10 boards)… plus the obligatory singular defensive highlight that will go on the reel I’m compiling for Nate’s viewing pleasure…

NOT TODAY. pic.twitter.com/NvK0PjKiie

— Cleveland Cavaliers (@cavs) March 18, 2019

Lastly, whatever Larry Drew is doing to keep these guys engaged and motivated, even when they’re down most of their front court and could easily surrender to the tank, he should be commended and possibly even rewarded for pulling off.

Parting Shot

To put a final fine point on the Young Bull narrative… the thing that impresses me most about the young man is just how humble, hard working, good natured and resilient he seems to be. He is not Kyrie… and, honestly, that’s a good thing. With all the negativity thrown at him, he could have easily turned petulant, sullen, withdrawn and surly. With teammates criticizing him early in the year, he could have easily turned on them and started playing the blame games. Instead, he’s remained consistently positive, and become a sponge soaking up knowledge from Coach Drew and the vets alike… while also humbly deflecting credit for his amazing scoring run to the same teammates who wondered if he could play this game…

Collin Sexton gives credit to his @cavs teammates after his 6th straight game of scoring 23 or more points. #BeTheFight pic.twitter.com/wHBqv5NZZV

— Bally Sports Cincinnati (@BallySportsCIN) March 19, 2019

The Cavs are lucky to have drafted this refreshingly hardworking and un-entitled Young Bull to be a growing foundational piece to their rebuilding effort. He and the rest of this young squad have made watching basketball in Cleveland fun again. Bully for that.