Pistons Host New Cavs
By J.M. Poulard
Essentials
- Teams: Cleveland Cavaliers (25-20) at Detroit Pistons (17-28)
- Date: January 27, 2015
- Time: 7:30 p.m.
- Television: FSD (local), NBATV (national)
Get in the Game
The show must go on, and the same is true of the Detroit Pistons’ season. Brandon Jennings may be lost, but Detroit’s march towards a postseason berth must continue. It’s a far more complicated path yes, but this group has demonstrated it has the intestinal fortitude to push through adversity.
Tonight, the adversity takes the form of a now formidable Cleveland Cavaliers squad. Their record is a little deceptive because it barely accounts for their recent trades – acquisitions of Timofey Mozgov, J.R. Smith and Iman Shumpert – and the return of a rejuvenated LeBron James.
Both events intersected on January 13, when the Cavs faced off against the Phoenix Suns on the road. The Suns were victorious in that contest, but Cleveland looked different when compared to their previous outings. The defeat was the Cavaliers’ sixth in a row, but James and Co. had a few ideas on how to change things.
With a seemingly more grounded LeBron earlier in the year, Cleveland never truly overwhelmed opponents on the strength of the talent of its best player.
However, that became a thing of the past once he returned.
James has since rediscovered his marvelous form and is now the athletic marvel fans have become accustomed to. He’s punishing defenses on the interior and demonstrating a stronger defensive resolve, which in turn is giving both head coach David Blatt and the Cavs a fighting chance moving forward.
Furthermore, the new additions surrounding James are a much cleaner fit than ever before. Smith is accepting his role as a spot-up shooter and thriving it in. He’s firing from long range with impunity, and Blatt will happily accept it because Smith is actually attempting clean shots.
The same is true of Shumpert, who isn’t really looking at the rim unless he’s completely open. Shump’s focusing more on the defensive aspect, where he’s shown that he can be a game changer at least in small spurts.
As it pertains to Mozgov, an argument could be made that he’s been the most important addition for the defense. At 7’1’’, his size has provided enough of an impediment to make the Cavs better defensively. Cleveland ranks as a bottom-five defensive unit on the season, but the return of James and addition of Mozgov have raised it up to bottom-third league levels, per NBA.com.
That might not seem like much, but with the Cavs boasting the best offense in the sport over the last seven games, it makes a pretty big difference. Cleveland has feasted on open looks thanks largely to the penetration of Kyrie Irving and LeBron. The offense has looked crisper as a result of purposeful ball movement and great spot-up shooting. This Cavs team looks really good.
However, they can still be exploited.
Kevin Love is a bit of a stationary shooter, which means teams no longer need to worry about his passing and post-ups. Also, he provides absolutely no basket resistance, which means Detroit should be able to get some easy scores at the rim while Love is on the floor.
In addition, Cleveland’s perimeter defense fluctuates from one game to the next. Irving and Smith’s efforts vary, which makes it difficult to determine whether ball-handlers will have impactful performances. Still, the Pistons might want to be careful about splitting traps and passes in traffic, because the Cavaliers react fairly quickly in these instances.
What does it all mean?
Tonight’s contest might produce a lot of points and highlights, and fans tend to like those.
Read about the Cavs