Predicting how the Cleveland Cavaliers will do against the Central Division

How the Cavs stack up against the Pistons

The Pistons are a pretty bad matchup for the Cavs.

Even though it seems that the Cavs should have Tristan Thompson and John Henson ready to go at the outset of the 2019-20 season after injury-plagued 2018-19 campaigns, with them in the rotation or not for a good chunk of the year, which could seemingly not be the case for one of or neither of the two with being on expiring contracts, Detroit’s Blake Griffin and Andre Drummond is a tough 4/5 combination for Cleveland either way.

Griffin is one of the best all-around power forwards in the NBA with his combination of inside-out scoring polish, outstanding passing ability for a big, ever-improving handle, and consistent rebounding. Griffin had 24.5 points, 7.5 rebounds and 5.4 assists per game last season, and with the way he shot from three-point range last season (36.2% on 7.0 attempts per game, per Basketball Reference), I have no idea how the Cavaliers are going to attempt to defend him.

The bruising Drummond, who had 17.3 points, 15.6 rebounds and 1.7 blocks per game last year, is always a tough player for Cleveland to account for, too, as the Cavaliers could have trouble boxing Drummond out, and on the offensive end, his presence inside could make it very difficult for players such as Sexton, Garland, Osman and perhaps Porter to finish near the rim.

Pick-and-rolls between the Pistons’ Reggie Jackson and new arrival Derrick Rose and Drummond/Griffin will be a handful, too, and with the Cavs likely having to double down a good amount on the two key Detroit bigs, Jackson and Rose, along with the likes of wings Luke Kennard, Tony Snell and at times, rookie Sekou Doumbouya and recent signing Joe Johnson could have a bunch of open catch-and-shoot looks.

Playing off that, Detroit had its second-best three-point shooting clip (42.2%, per NBA.com) against the Cavs last season compared to the rest of its opponents.

Bruce Brown is a hard-nosed defensive-minded player that could give Cavs’ primary playmakers a bunch of trouble on the other end, too, and with Cleveland likely being deterred from driving much, spacing could feasibly shrink, which would prevent Love and Windler from getting many catch-and-shoot looks.

The 2019-20 Cavs’ record prediction against the Pistons: 1-3

Realistically, though, I could see the Cavs winning one game next year. It would seem feasible that Detroit could give Griffin, who has had injury troubles in his career, one of the two games against Cleveland in January off. With all he does for the Pistons as a scorer inside and outside the arc, as a playmaker and as a screener/rebounder, I’d think the Cavaliers could very well get the W in that situation.

The Pistons did that in a game late last season with Griffin, and I’d think they do that again in that aforementioned January time when the two teams play each other twice in a span of three days (per the Cavs schedule). As a result, I see the Cavaliers going 1-3 against Detroit in 2019-20.