Cavs Vs. Pistons: 3 Things We Learned

After finishing off their home stand with two consecutive victories, the Cleveland Cavaliers gave Head Coach Tyronn Lue his first road win as the Cavs defeated the Detroit Pistons 114-106 at the Palace of Auburn Hills.

Despite winning two games in a row coming into the matchup with the Pistons, there were several questions to be answered by the Cavaliers. The two home wins preceding this contest had been at the hands of lowly opponents and the Pistons in Detroit would prove to be a sterner task.

However, the Cavaliers built an early lead and never really looked back. The Pistons made a few runs, but throughout the night, the Cavs were able to withstand anything Detroit threw their way.

Here are three things we learned from Coach Lue’s first road winner.

The Love Renaissance is real

One of the major hallmarks of David Blatt’s tenure as the Head Coach of the Cavaliers was his inability to use Kevin Love effectively. Love came into last season on the back of arguably his best season in the NBA, an offensive dynamo who was able to score at will from any part of the floor. While it is true that the addition of a three-ball helped accelerate Love’s ascension into superstardom, he was an extremely effective post player.

However, throughout the Blatt era, Love was used primarily in the offense as a decoy, camped out at the three-point line in order to draw defenders away from the basket. Upon his appointment, Coach Lue pledged to use Love more effectively, especially at the elbows where he thrived in Minnesota. As a result, Love’s numbers have seen a pleasant uptick.

Kevin love continued his impressive form under Tyronn Lue. Tim Fuller-USA TODAY Sports /

In Love’s past five games, four of which were under the reign of Tyronn Lue, he is averaging 18.6 points, 8.8 rebounds and 2.6 assists per game. However, more importantly, he has converted his 46.4% of his field goals, whilst also shooting an impressive 39.4% from long distance in this period.

Love’s game was in full force against the Pistons as Ersan Ilyasova and Anthony Tolliver were unable to keep the 6’10” forward in check. Love was aggressive right from the beginning, hitting a couple of three’s en route to a 10 point first quarter.

The Cavaliers seemed to look for Love early in the post as well as beyond the arc and that allowed Love to keep the defense on its heels the entire night. Love finished the night with 29 points on 9-19 shooting, whilst hitting 5 of his 7 three-point shots. He also added 6 rebound and 3 assists to complete a well-rounded outing.

Big Three Fire

For all the noise about the Cavaliers’ coaching situation, one thing is clear: this team goes as far as the Big Three takes them. When all three are on, it is nigh on impossible for the Cavaliers to be stopped. Tonight was just the first time this season and the ninth since they joined together in Cleveland that Kyrie Irving, Kevin Love and LeBron James all exceeded 20 points.

As aforementioned, Love began the onslaught in the first quarter and finished the high point man on the night. What Love began, Irving built upon in the second quarter as the Cavaliers built a lead with James sitting on the bench for the first six minutes of the second quarter. Irving had his midrange jumper going all night as he poured in 28 points on an efficient 11-for-19 shooting night.

LeBron James meanwhile had a relatively quiet night by his lofty standards. Interestingly, James’ night included a blown dunk as well as an airball as he was well defended by Marcus Morris and Pistons’ rookie Stanley Johnson throughout the night. James finished the night with just 20 points on 7-for-16 shooting, although he did showcase his vaunted all-around game as he grabbed 9 rebounds and passed for a team-high 8 assists.

The shot distribution between the Cavaliers’ three stars has been infamously lopsided towards either Irving or James with Love often having far less looks. However, tonight the distribution was excellent as Love and Irving both finished with 19 shots, while James finished with 16 shots. The more the Cavaliers are able to get their three stars firing simultaneously, the more dangerous they’ll be.

Cavaliers win the rebounding battle

Winning the battle of the boards generally has a profound effect on the result of games against the Pistons and tonight proved no different. In the Cavaliers’ loss at Detroit early on in the season, they were out-rebounded 48-40 with All-Star Andre Drummond finishing with a gaudy stat line of 25 points and 18 rebounds.

More from King James Gospel

However, tonight the Cavaliers as a team were excellent on the boards, working in unison to deny the league’s leading rebounder an opportunity to give the Pistons extra looks. Drummond was held to just 8 rebounds this time around, including just 1 offensive rebound, well below his season average which hovers around 5.

Drummond was out-rebounded by the Cavaliers’ center, Tristan Thompson, who finished with 14 rebounds to go along with his 11 points. Thompson’s 14 rebounds included 3 on the offensive end, right around his season average.

Timofey Mozgov was also excellent off the bench finishing with 8 rebounds in just 19 minutes of playing time in addition to 12 points on an impressive 5-for-6 shooting night.

Tonight was an impressive road win for the Cavaliers who have now won 9 of their past 10 games away from the friendly confines of Quicken Loans Arena. While it is no doubt a step in the right direction, the true test awaits as they face the well-rested San Antonio Spurs next.