Tag: detroit pistons

Cavs Pull It Off, Now Get Ready For The Knicks

It was the one outcome we didn’t figure was possible. We thought it was possible for the Cleveland Cavaliers to win the best-of-seven Eastern Conference semi-finals against the Detroit Pistons, but we surely did not foresee a blowout win.

Kenny Atkinson’s squad returned the favor from Friday night, dominated the Pistons in a 125-94 win and advanced to the Conference Finals for the first time since 2018.

The opponent will be the New York Knicks, who started the questions about this basketball team a few years ago when they beat up Cleveland in a five game first round series win.

What it made us think is why can’t the Cavs play like that more often? Cleveland came out and Donovan Mitchell got his big guys involved early. Evan Mobley had five points, four rebounds, and three assists in the first quarter, while Jarrett Allen scored six. And the cherry on top was the wine and gold knocked down 6 of 13 from long distance, including a halfcourt buzzer beater by Mitchell at the end.

The Cavs also needed someone to step up off the bench and Sam Merrill, who we admit we would have lessened his minutes before the game, turned out to be that guy, showing we don’t know as much as we think we do.

Merrill hit his first two threes, which we have seen before, but he kept it going, ending with five makes in eight attempts and 23 points. Cleveland only made 32.4% from three, but Merrill had the hot hand.

We also have to mention the impact Mobley made in this series. We have always wondered about the physicality with Mobley, but for the series, he scored 15.9 points, grabbed 7.4 boards, and perhaps most surprisingly, dished out 4.9 assists, second on the team to James Harden. He shot 52% from the floor and more importantly was a force inside, blocking 19 shots.

He looked like the player Cavs’ fans have been hoping for since Cleveland became a playoff team.

So, now the wine and gold go from one former coach in J.B. Bickerstaff to another in Mike Brown, now the head man with the Knicks. It is important to point out the Knicks won just one more regular season game than the Cavaliers, finishing at 53-29.

But they have had an easier road in the playoffs, winning the first round in six games and sweeping the 76ers in the semi-finals. The don’t have a big height advantage in the starting lineup, with just one player over 6’7″ in Karl-Anthony Towns, but they do play physical on the perimeter with 6’5″ Josh Hart and 6’7″ OG Anunoby. And of course, their star is 6’2″ Jalen Brunson, who we would say, plays a lot like Harden.

The two teams met three times, but only once after the trade deadline. Opening night saw the Cavs drop a 119-111 decision with Anunoby scoring 24 and Brunson getting 23. On Christmas Day in New York, the Cavs blew a big lead, up by 12 after three quarters before losing by two, 126-124. Mobley came off the bench that day, his first game back after an injury.

Mitchell and Brunson each had 34 points.

In the lone game at Rocket Arena, Cleveland won 109-94 behind 23 from Mitchell and 20 from Harden.

Can the Cavs beat New York and get to the Finals without LeBron James for the first time in team history? Sure, the Knicks are far from a perfect team, they have flaws like the Cavaliers. But the Cavs have to play with the same energy, physicality, and attention to detail as they played with in both Game 7s.

That seems to be a tall task for this group although we don’t know why.

A Game 7 Win And A Date With The Pistons

The nice thing about the NBA playoffs is that after every series, you start with a clean slate. So, that the Cleveland Cavaliers had a tougher time than expected with the Toronto Raptors means nothing when they start the Eastern Conference semifinals tonight against the Detroit Pistons.

As for game seven, the Cavs found themselves down 47-38 with 2:58 left in the second quarter. Max Strus drilled a three, got a steal which led to two free throws from James Harden. After an offensive foul drawn by Strus, Harden knocked down another three, and after another turnover, Jaylon Tyson hit another three and the home team went into the locker room tied.

The third quarter was the Jarrett Allen takeover. Allen scored 14 points and grabbed 10 boards in those 12 minutes, and Donovan Mitchell added nine more as Cleveland outscored the Raptors 38-19 and basically put the game away.

You can’t minimize what Strus, Tyson, and to a lesser extent Sam Merrill did in that quarter although Allen was clearly the star.

Strus did a little bit of everything, the all-around game the Cavs need, scoring 12 points with 8 rebounds and five assists. And we are a fan of Tyson (and would like to see him get more time) for the same reason. He had 7 points, 9 boards, and 4 assists.

And we would be remiss if we didn’t mention Evan Mobley’s aggressiveness in the first half. He wound up in foul trouble, but he had 13 points, 7 rebounds, and 4 assists in 27 minutes. At times, his passiveness drives us crazy, but he came out to make an impact.

So, now it is on to the top seed in the East, the Pistons, who also needed seven games, and had to overcome a 3-1 deficit in the series, to defeat the Orlando Magic.

Cade Cunningham and Tobias Harris took almost half of the Pistons shots in the first round series win and were the only Detroit players to average more than 11 points per game. By contrast, Mitchell and Harden, who took the most field goal attempts for the Cavs, combined to take 41% of them and Cleveland had four scorers who average more than 11 points per game, and Strus scored 10.3.

The Pistons did not shoot the three ball well in round one, knocking down just 32.7% of them, and Cunningham and Duncan Robinson made 40 of the 68 conversions. We would point out though that Toronto didn’t shoot the three well in the regular season, but the overhelping Cavs defense provides opponents with some wide-open looks, so Detroit may do better in the series.

Another challenge will be the physicality the Pistons play with, particularly their big men, Jalen Duran and Isaiah Stewart. Duran had 28 offensive rebounds in the Orlando series and Ausar Thompson had 25 more. The Cavaliers outrebounded Toronto for the series, but that was a result of the 60-33 advantage in the deciding game.

They will have to keep Detroit off the offensive glass.

Hopefully, the Cavaliers learned a lesson Sunday night and will come out with more intensity and physicality, especially on the defensive end in this series. And they don’t have homecourt advantage, meaning they will have to win at least one in the Motor City.

For all of the complaints we had about the Cavs’ play in round one, that all gets erased. It’s a new series and a new set of challenges.