The Pistons were lucky to get past the first round, where an injury to Orlando’s Franz Wagner may have saved Detroit from an embarrassing playoff loss. The Cavaliers can replicate Wagner’s impact in Round 2 with their balanced roster, which could lead to problems for the Pistons. The Pistons will need to be at their best to make sure they don’t fall into a big hole early, like they did against the Magic when Wagner was playing.
Franz Wagner’s injury completely changed the first round
Wagner only played in the first 4 games of the last round, where Orlando jumped out to a 3-1 series lead. He was impactful both as an offensive creator and capable defender tasked with slowing down Cade Cunningham. Players of Wagner’s archetype and size are not easy matchups for any team in the playoffs; the Cavaliers had their own struggles with a similar player in Scottie Barnes.
After Wagner went down with a calf injury, the Pistons rattled off three straight wins to complete the comeback and win the series in 7. Detroit’s defense was dominant and disciplined in the last 3 games, but that was partially enabled by the absence of Wagner. Without him, the Pistons could focus on Paolo Banchero as the primary creator for the Magic and take away all other scoring besides him.
On the other end, Wagner was also Orlando’s best defender for Cade Cunningham. Without him, the Magic were forced to rely on smaller options such as Jamal Cain and Desmond Bane. Compared to the 6’10” Wagner, they didn’t have the size and strength to slow down Cade.
The Cavaliers can cause the same problems as Wagner
Cleveland doesn’t have anyone of Wagner’s size and agility to guard Cade, but they do have another solid option in Jaylon Tyson. In the most recent Pistons-Cavs matchup on March 3rd, Tyson limited Cade to 10 points on 4-of-16 shooting. He was able to use his length to disrupt Cade on the perimeter while relying on the Cavs’ double bigs to protect the paint.
Any disturbance to Cunningham’s offense will obviously have a huge hit for the Pistons. He leads the NBA in playoff points so far and Detroit’s offense has seemed incapable of even basic tasks without him. Tyson could wind up being a big swing factor for the Cavs depending on his defensive performance against Cade.
Offensively, the Cavaliers also have multiple reliable creators - just like the Magic did before Wagner went down. They have two All-Star guards in Donovan Mitchell and James Harden who can each make plays for themselves or others. Dealing with that duo will be much harder than stopping the Magic’s relatively weak offense, even with Wagner.
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