Cleveland Cavaliers Get Solid Game 2 Win Against Pistons

The Cleveland Cavaliers recover from a slow first half to get a big win against the Detroit Pistons 107-90 and lead the series 2-0.

The Cleveland Cavaliers finally got a big win over the scrappy Detroit Pistons.

After an error-ridden first half, they were finally able to turn it on and play comfortably throughout the second half. However, the game didn’t start out well for them. At the 9:25 mark, Tristan Thompson got called for his second foul and had to sit down. That mean’t that my favorite player, Timofey Mozgov, would come in and take over center duties for the rest of the quarter.

It was a disaster.

He played as if he wanted no part of Andre Drummond or Marcus Morris. He failed to get defensive rebounds, couldn’t stop dribble penetration and got pushed around in the post. His confidence seemed to be at an all-time low and it hurt the team early.

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It got so bad the fans at Quicken Loans arena booed everytime the ball was passed his way. Mozgov went scoreless in nine minutes. Channing Frye was finally brought in for his first action of the playoffs in the second quarter and it immediately made a difference.

The offense wasn’t as stagnant, and it got Drummond away from the basket and forced him to go out on the perimeter and guard Frye. It left the lane open for dribble penetration and they took advantage. But the biggest key was their three-point shooting.

The Cavaliers shot 53 percent from three-point range compared to 34 percent on Sunday. The Cavaliers went 20-of-38 from three-point range, which ties the playoff record set by the Golden State Warriors last postseason.

The ball movement created better looks, and the Pistons weren’t closing out defensively on the perimeter as consistently as they were on Sunday.

Kyrie Irving continued his hot perimeter shooting going 4-of-7 from three-point range and is now 9-for-17 for the series. LeBron James, who had his second-worst three-point shooting mark of his career this season at 30.9 percent, joined in from long range, going 2-for-4. The Pistons, on the other hand, shot just 23 percent from three-point range compared to 52 percent on Sunday.

When they aren’t hitting their shots from the outside, they struggle to score. Unless Reggie Jackson, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope or Morris are hitting wide-open shots, the offense stops.  While the Pistons struggled, nobody has been hindered more than Thompson.

In 43 minutes in the series, he has three points and seven rebounds. It could be because of the presence of Drummond, but he has to find his overall game from last postseason and contribute to the team.

He’s failed to get inside position on offensive rebounds and he has been a liability on the defensive end. If he is able to get it going in Game 3, it could make all the difference in a close win or a potential loss in Detroit. The Cavaliers obviously cannot depend on Mozgov and coach Tyronn Lue might only use Frye in certain matchups.

With the Cavaliers up 2-0, the Pistons will have their backs against the wall and will likely come out aggressive and physical, as they have been all series. They will have to be ready to counter that attack and not get out of their offensive gameplan.

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They must continue solid ball movement and dribble penetration as they did in Game 2. In NBA history, no team has ever came back from a 3-0 deficit in a series.  Can the Cavaliers get their seventh straight postseason victory against the Pistons? We’ll find out on Friday.