Opponent Scouting: Cleveland Cavaliers (6-1)
Tonight at 7:00pm EST the Detroit Pistons will be hosting the Cleveland Cavaliers at the LCA. The Pistons are on one night of rest after losing to the Bucks, the Cavs are also on one day of rest after defeating the Boston Celtics.
The Them:
The new-look Cavaliers are currently enjoying the fruits of trading for Donovan Mitchell. They come into this game at 6-1, with the 3rd best defense 7th best offense and 3rd best net rating in the league.
They are led by new arrival Donovan Mitchell, who is averaging better than 30 points and 7 assists per game on excellent efficiency. Mitchell shoots tons of threes but is also dynamite attacking the paint and the hoop. While Mitchell is the star of this show, the rest of the rotation is full to the brim.
Darius Garland is into a facilitator role that seems more natural to him with 16.5 points and 7.5 assists per game. Evan Mobley can finish inside and is one of the more natural defenders to come into the game in recent memory. Jarrett Allen is long, athletic, and a skilled finisher, Caris LeVert is struggling inside the arc but he is shooting lights out from beyond it.
Off the bench, Dean Wade and Cedi Osman make up a pair of do-it-all wings who can shoot and have some off-the-dribble chops. Kevin Love is old but he can still shoot and remains whip-smart as a passer. Isaac Okoro can defend.
Time will tell if some of these numbers hold up, several members of the team are shooting well above their career numbers from deep and we will see if Mitchell stays this engaged or not, but for now all is good in this neighborhood. Mitchell is the engine of the offense but everyone else contributes in meaningful ways and the defense is stifling.
Matchups to watch:
The front-courts: The Cavs represent yet another team with athletic bigs who are probably too large and athletic for Stewart to effectively tango with. To make matters worse, both Allen and Mobely are mobile enough to stick with Bojan comfortably. The Pistons need to avoid getting killed inside and I’m not sure how they do that.
Cade vs being the best guy on the floor: As strong as the Cavs defense is, they are not flush with elite wing/perimeter defenders. They have solid defenders outside their bigs but Cade should have chances. If the Pistons want to win tonight he needs to be the best guy on the floor.
Ivey vs. Defensive intensity: Whether Ivey spends most of the night on Mitchell or Garland, he will have his work cut out for him. Ivey has shown good flashes on defense but it’s mostly been flashes, the Pistons need him to come ready for every possession.
Ivey vs. Getting back on track: Ivey has quietly been pretty bad since being sick, it’d be a nice thing for him to get of the snide with some sort of a positive outing.
Everyone vs. Boxing out: The Cavs have way more size and athleticism inside than the Pistons. To avoid getting bullied inside everyone needs to be on their best box-outs.
Cavs vs. Reggression? As stated above, the Cavs have 6 players shooting 4 or more threes per game, 5 of them are above 40% from deep. Maybe that will continue and this Cavs team will contend for the greatest shooting team ever, they probably won’t though. A hard regression to the mean from them could give the Pistons a boost.
Bench vs. Keeping it up? It still isn’t pretty but the Pistons bench has been improved a bit. The Cavs have the depth to swing games so the Pistons bench-mob has a big task.
So in conclusion…
Run for the hills if:
Mitchell is going by everyone the Pistons put in front of him
The Cavs are getting heaps of offensive rebounds
Cade’s jumper isn’t falling
Wink knowingly at your friends if:
Cade’s jumper is falling
Stewart can just be so physical that he throws the Cavs bigs off
The bench isn’t a disaster.
Opportunities for me to look stupid:
Cade isn’t stellar
Killian Hayes gets extended minutes for his defense against Mitchell
Stew hits 4 threes
Mitchell has a down game and the Pistons rely on big games from their role-players to victory.