The Cleveland Cavaliers(13-7) continued their three-game road trip in Detroit to face the Pistons(5-17). Cleveland has lost five straight on the road and has not played well away from Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.
The Cavs were without Jarrett Allen(lower back). In addition, they were missing Kevin Love(thumb), Caris LeVert(ankle), and Lamar Stevens(illness).
However, they were able to get back to their winning ways on the road as they defeated the Pistons 102-94 at Little Caesars Arena.
Here’s the Great, Not So Great, and the Bottom Line of the Cavs’ win over the Pistons.
Great:
Second & Fourth Quarter Donovan Mitchell: The three-time All-Star scored 11 points in the second quarter on 4/6 shooting and helped close the show in the fourth as he scored 14(4/6 FG) of his 32 points. Overall, he did not shoot it well, 9/23 FG, but he did what he needed to do when it mattered most.
Evan Mobley: The second-year forward was big-time in Detroit. He scored 20 points and grabbed 13 rebounds; this was Mobley’s fourth double-double in six games. Mobley made two threes(his total for the season), including a big three that gave the Cavs the lead for good at 93-90 with under five minutes to go.
Fourth Quarter: Cleveland trailed 78-73 heading into the fourth. From there, the Cavs took over. Cleveland shot 54% from the field, including 5/7 from downtown, and held the Pistons to 32% shooting. They outscored Detroit 29-16 in the quarter.
Not So Great:
Three-Point Shooting: The Cavs struggled from behind the arc on Sunday. Cleveland was 8/28 from three-point range. Darius Garland struggled from the field(4/19 FG) and was 0/5 from deep.
Bottom Line:
The Cavs did not play their best on Sunday. They did not shoot it well, but they were able to get the win. Defensively, they were able to limit the banged-up Pistons, who were missing their leading scorer, Bojan Bogdanovic and Cade Cunningham. In the end, this is why you bring in a player like Mitchell. He’s a walking bucket, and he took over in the fourth.
What’s Next:
Cleveland will travel to Toronto to battle the Raptors on Monday night.
Best of the Rest:
Garland had 19 points and 10 assists, and Cedi Osman added 10 points off the bench.
For the Pistons, who had five players in double figures, Marvin Bagley III led the way with 19 points and 10 rebounds; Alec Burks added 16 points off the bench.
Junkyard Dog:
Isaac Okoro received the “Junkyard Dog” award for his play on Sunday. Okoro(2/2 FG) had seven points and seven rebounds off the bench.
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