With 8 wins in their last 9 games, their only loss coming in Chicago, the Cavs landed in Detroit with the idea of making a 9 out of 10, before returning home to host the Pelicans.
After a flying start, including a huge dunk from Jarrett Allen and several banderillas from Darius Garland, Cleveland already saw himself on parade.
But Detroit not only managed to pick up quickly in the first quarter, but, despite a disbursement of 11 units at the end of the 3rd quarter, the Pistons above all managed to win on their floor at the end of a one-way last quarter, carried by Cade Cunningham’s triple-double (19 points, 10 rebounds, 10 assists).
Overconfident Cavs
“It’s a bad defeat, one of those that will remain in our memory”, whispered Darius Garland. “We started with a 15-0 and we were still at +11 a few minutes from the end of the 3rd quarter. But we stopped defending! They dominated the game in the last quarter, we let them do what they wanted. “
Probably in “overconfidence” after hanging the Bucks on their roster, the Cavs fell from above, held to just 17 points in the last quarter (including 6 points in the last 9 minutes), and completely overwhelmed by events against one of the worst teams in the League.
“We beat the defending champions and I think we took that as a sign that we were better than we really are,” Jarrett Allen analysis. “This match called us to order. We fell back down to earth a bit. “
To tell the truth, symbol of this failed last quarter, the Cavs lost more balls (7) than they managed shots (6/16)… Limited to 4 points at 2/7 on shots in the last quarter, Darius Garland had it very bad.
“It must be a wake-up call. I hope everyone has woken up well and is feeling the heat in their buttocks. I know we still have a lot of games to play but this performance [hier soir] was unacceptable. We thought it was going to be a knockout win, we were going to come to Detroit, get a win and go home. But it’s never like that in the League. “
A defeat that should serve as a lesson
Since Ricky Rubio’s injury on Dec. 29, the Cavs offense has been coughing, having gone from 12th with the Spaniard to 19th in efficiency without him. Beaten 31-17 in the last quarter, the Cavs failed to find solutions to the cold snap of Darius Garland, on whom they rely a lot, late in the game.
“I think that’s part of success, and mastering that success”claimed Bickerstaff on Cleveland.com. “After our win over Milwaukee, which was a highlight of our season, and after our great start to the game, we must have thought it was going to be easy. But we don’t have the right to choose our games in the NBA. Your identity must be your identity, and this, in every game! We cannot choose when we are going to play and when we are not going to play. This defeat will leave its mark. But if it doesn’t hurt, it’s useless. “
On the contrary, jostled by the more physical defense of the Pistons, with the inevitable Isaiah Stewart under the panels, the Cavs were eaten in the racket, conceding 16 offensive rebounds in Detroit which will also add 7 interceptions. The pre-game strategy was not to leave access to the paint: the Pistons found the fault more than once. And the Cavs dam gave way in the last quarter…
“They won the engagement battle, it’s as simple as that,” concludes JB Bickerstaff. “I don’t think we answered well. The fact that we lost this battle is something that should open our group’s eyes to what we have to do every night, no matter where we are. “
With 30 wins for 20 losses, there is no danger in the remains for the Cavs who remain among the best surprises of the season, all conferences combined. But this painful setback must imperatively serve as a lesson to the young cavalry of Ohio.
“You could forget that game and say, ‘Ah, whatever, it’s just another loss’. But to become one of the best teams, we must consider these defeats and tell ourselves that it is a match that we should have won. It’s not who we are as a team.” adds Jarrett Allen. “We want to show everyone who we really are. “
| Shots | Bounces | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Players | GM | Minimum | Shots | 3 points | LF | Off | Def | Early | pd | bp | Int | CT | party | Points |
| Darius Garland | 43 | 34.7 | 46.7 | 36.4 | 90.7 | 0.5 | 2.7 | 3.3 | 8.2 | 3.7 | 1.3 | 0.1 | 1.7 | 19.7 |
| Jarrett Allen | 41 | 32.7 | 68.9 | 12.5 | 68.8 | 3.4 | 7.5 | 11.0 | 1.9 | 1.9 | 0.8 | 1.4 | 1.9 | 16.1 |
| Collin Sexton | 11 | 28.8 | 45.0 | 24.4 | 74.4 | 1.2 | 2.1 | 3.3 | 2.1 | 2.8 | 0.9 | 0.0 | 2.3 | 16.0 |
| Evan Mobley | 41 | 34.4 | 50.8 | 30.5 | 67.6 | 1.9 | 6.3 | 8.1 | 2.6 | 1.9 | 0.7 | 1.7 | 2.0 | 15.0 |
| Kevin Love | 41 | 21.6 | 43.9 | 40.8 | 87.3 | 1.1 | 6.2 | 7.2 | 2.1 | 1.3 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 1.0 | 14.2 |
| Lauri Markkanen | 38 | 30.2 | 43.6 | 34.2 | 86.3 | 1.1 | 4.2 | 5.3 | 1.5 | 0.8 | 0.8 | 0.6 | 1.8 | 13.6 |
| Ricky Rubio | 35 | 28.3 | 36.0 | 33.5 | 85.4 | 0.4 | 3.7 | 4.1 | 6.6 | 2.7 | 1.4 | 0.2 | 2.2 | 12.9 |
| Cedi Osman | 37 | 22.6 | 42.7 | 35.8 | 65.6 | 0.4 | 2.0 | 2.5 | 1.7 | 0.9 | 1.0 | 0.2 | 1.8 | 10.8 |
| isaac okoro | 34 | 28.4 | 45.3 | 28.4 | 73.4 | 1.1 | 2.2 | 3.3 | 1.8 | 1.1 | 0.8 | 0.3 | 2.5 | 9.0 |
| Rajon Rondo | 5 | 20.8 | 41.7 | 40.9 | 83.3 | 0.2 | 3.4 | 3.6 | 4.4 | 2.4 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 1.8 | 8.8 |
| Malik Newman | 1 | 7.7 | 60.0 | 0.0 | 100.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 8.0 |
| lamar stevens | 33 | 15.3 | 46.8 | 32.5 | 66.7 | 0.8 | 1.6 | 2.4 | 0.6 | 0.6 | 0.5 | 0.2 | 1.5 | 5.3 |
| Dean Wade | 34 | 18.8 | 44.4 | 35.2 | 60.0 | 0.7 | 2.4 | 3.1 | 1.1 | 0.4 | 0.5 | 0.1 | 1.5 | 5.0 |
| Brandon Goodwin | 10 | 13.7 | 37.3 | 26.7 | 30.0 | 0.6 | 1.5 | 2.1 | 2.9 | 0.6 | 0.9 | 0.0 | 1.1 | 4.5 |
| justin anderson | 3 | 15.5 | 50.0 | 33.3 | 75.0 | 0.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 0.7 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 1.3 | 4.3 |
| Tre Scott | 2 | 5.7 | 50.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 1.0 | 3.0 |
| Denzel Valentine | 22 | 9.3 | 37.1 | 40.9 | 0.0 | 0.4 | 1.3 | 1.7 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.8 | 2.9 |
| Dylan Windler | 33 | 10.2 | 44.6 | 39.6 | 77.8 | 0.4 | 1.5 | 1.8 | 0.8 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 1.1 | 2.8 |
| Luke Kornet | 2 | 7.4 | 20.0 | 0.0 | 66.7 | 1.0 | 0.5 | 1.5 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 2.0 |
| Kevin Pangos | 21 | 7.7 | 33.3 | 23.1 | 75.0 | 0.1 | 0.4 | 0.5 | 1.4 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 1.9 |
| Rj Nembhard | 6 | 7.0 | 45.5 | 0.0 | 50.0 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 1.7 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 1.8 |
| Ed Davis | 15 | 8.8 | 64.3 | 0.0 | 37.5 | 0.5 | 2.4 | 2.9 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.5 | 1.5 | 1.4 |
| Tacko Fall | 11 | 5.3 | 41.7 | 0.0 | 28.6 | 0.6 | 1.5 | 2.1 | 0.2 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 1.1 |
