The Detroit Pistons defended their home court during the second round with a game one win over the Cleveland Cavs on Tuesday night
After a slow start in the postseason during round one, the Detroit Pistons wasted little time in kicking off their second round matchup with the Cleveland Cavaliers on the front feet on Tuesday night’s 111-101 victory.
During the first quarter, the Pistons swung the ball around, connected on a slew of three-pointers and generated the type of turnovers that Detroit has thrived on all season long. The Pistons opened up a 37-21 lead after 12 minutes, and the East’s No. 1 seed was able to keep a double-digit lead all game until the Cavs made a late charge in the fourth quarter.
With the game hanging in the balance and Cleveland fighting back, Cade Cunningham linked up with Jalen Duren for a pair of key transition dump-offs in the fourth quarter which JD promptly slammed home to keep the Pistons on top. In Detroit’s 10-point win, Cunninghan finished the series-opener with 23 points, seven assists, three rebounds and two steals, while Duren totalled an impactful double-double with 11 points and 12 rebounds in the game one victory.
When the Pistons needed a big bucket against the Cavs at home, Cunningham was the answer as Detroit’s All-Star sank a pair of three-pointers while continuing to make savvy decisions with the basketball during crunch time. As a whole, Cunningham logged 42 minutes on the night, so there simply was not much basketball played without his imprint, and the Pistons needed every bit of production from their leader to edge out the Cavs and take a 1-0 lead in the series.
As a team, the Pistons narrowly won the rebounding battle while also claiming an advantage in fast break points, but Detroit’s defense really made the difference in game one. Ausar Thompson, who finished 3rd in Defensive Player of the Year voting, was a turnover-hawking magnet to the basketball for Detroit once again, breaking to the ball late from the help-side to contest shots at the rim or switching to apply pressure at inopportune times for Cleveland ball handlers. The Pistons forced the Cavs into committing 20 turnovers in game one, and Thompson was responsible for a number of those errors.
But to help the Pistons make it over the line, 15-year vet Tobias Harris had another clutch performance with 20 points and eight rebounds in the competitive contest. Harris frequently used his size to take advantage of mismatches in the post, and the mid-range game continued to be kind to the player J.B. Bickerstaff refers to as his safety blanket.
On the other side of the matchup, both James Harden and Donovan Mitchell struggled to get shots off at times with Ausar Thompson guarding the backcourt, but both players eventually crossed the 20-point threshold late in the fourth quarter. In terms of Cleveland’s big men, Jarrett Allen was significantly limited all throughout the game with major foul trouble. Allen picked up his third foul midway through the first quarter and his fourth personal foul arrived shortly after halftime, so the low-post presence was largely neutralized and held to just two points and three rebounds in 18 minutes.
Max Strus had a big game coming off the bench for the Cavs with 19 points (4-for-8 from distance), many of which were scored during Cleveland’s second half surge. But despite Strus’ supplementary offensive impact, the Pistons closed out game one with a 10-point victory and defended their home court during the first game of the Eastern Conference Semifinals.
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