The Pistons were riding high after winning their first 2 games against the Cavaliers, but now find the series tied 2-2 after dropping two in a row in Cleveland. These games follow a similar trend from the first round, where the Cavaliers were 0-3 on the road and 4-0 at home. The Pistons desperately need to right their ship when they return home because the Cavaliers seem very hard to beat in their arena.
The Cavaliers have been a juggernaut at home
After controlling the first two games with their physicality, the Pistons faced much more resistance in the last two games. In Game 4, they even found themselves on the wrong end of a 22-0 run to start the third quarter. In previous playoff games, the Pistons have been the ones dishing out such runs with their dominant defense, against both the Magic and Cavaliers.
However, it was the Pistons struggling to get anything going in Game 4 as their starters found no momentum. Despite getting an unexpected boost from the bench to address one of their usual weaknesses, the Pistons weren't able to claw their way back into the game after that huge run. In front of a home crowd, the Cavaliers seemed to find a new gear defensively and controlled the game with their intensity.
Against the increased physicality and interior dominance of the Cavaliers, the Pistons unexpectedly crumbled. In particular, Jalen Duren was astoundingly terrible and finished with just 8 points and 2 rebounds in 27 minutes. During that time, the Cavaliers controlled the paint with their dual bigs of Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen.
This is nothing new for the Cavaliers
Zooming out to the playoffs as a whole, the Cavaliers have a remarkable difference in their performances depending on venue. At home, they score 18 more points per game and shoot much better - an improvement of 9% from the field and 10% from three - versus their road games. This can be both a reassuring and worrying stat for the Pistons, who still have home-court advantage in the series.
Although Detroit still has the comfort of hosting Game 5 and a potential Game 7, they must also be acutely aware that dropping Game 5 could make for a very difficult position in Game 6. Nobody has been able to go into Cleveland and steal a playoff win this year; doing so with your back against the wall will be doubly difficult.
The Pistons absolutely need to treat Game 5 as a must-win considering the circumstances of this series so far. They will need a full 48 minutes of focused and intense play without being careless on offense or reckless on defense.
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