Detroit Pistons: 5 Keys To Beating Cavs On Home Court

3. Go Back To Game 1 Rotational Successes

One area of success the Pistons had in Game 1 was with their rotations. Van Gundy elected to keep two starters on the court with the second unit and it matched up well against the Cavs, who opt to do the same with Love, Irving and James. The Pistons should go back to that.

Detroit rolled five bench players to begin the second quarter of Game 2 with a five point lead and immediately saw the lead erased. In fact, the Cavs went on a 16-4 run to open the quarter before the Pistons starters came back in. The whole bench unit scored two points during that span.

When the Pistons keep two starters with three bench players, there is built in confidence on both ends of the court. They have a better offensive flow and have been decent on the defensive end. However, Game 2 showed the Cavs’ dominance when the Pistons play all five bench players at once.

From here on out, the Pistons need to platoon their bench players while keeping starters on the floor. Rotating starters to get rest is going to be a necessity, but the starters have to take a greater workload to lead this team on both ends of the court with the second unit.

Next: 2. Finish The Game