Opponent Scouting: Cleveland Cavaliers. (34-22)
Tonight at 7:00pm EST the Detroit Pistons will be on the road in Cleveland to face the Cavaliers. The Pistons are on one day of rest after losing to the Celtics. The Cavs are also on one day of rest after beating the Wizards but it is their 3rd game in 4 nights.
The Them:
Things don’t get much easier for the Pistons tonight. After taking on the NBA’s top team last time out they get another really good one. The Cavaliers are at the top end of the Eastern Conference and come into the game sporting the NBA’s best defensive rating and 10th best offensive rating. An elite defensive team with effective offense.
Donovan Mitchell is the headliner. Acquired this offseason in a huge trade from Utah, Mitchell has been everything the Cavaliers could’ve hoped. He’s scoring 27 points per game and dishing 5 assists, shooting the ball well from deep, his scoring efficiency is miles better than ever before in his career, and he’s refound the desire to play defense and move off the ball. He’s not exactly a different player than he was before, he’s just a better version of it.
Darius Garland is his running mate in the backcourt and should not be forgotten. Mitchell does more scoring but Garland, who rightfully made his first all-star game last season, has improved across the board. 22 points and 8 assists per game, elite shooting, good defensive effort. Garland is an excellent point guard with the perfect mix of being pass-first while still fully capable of getting buckets.
Then we move to the young front-court. Jarrett Allen is the rock of the defensive excellence in Cleveland and has been so since arriving. He is a classic rim-running big on offense who will dunk anything and everything in sight while still being skilled enough to finish tough layups, set effective screens, and occasionally throw good passes, all while being phenomenal defensively. Young Evan Mobley has not exactly become Kevin Garnet 2.0 as some thought he would but he’s still very good. The shot has not come along from deep, but he’s great defensively, a smart passer, and capable of scoring for himself on the inside.
Isaac Okoro currently rounds out the starting lineup as a 3 and D guy. He’s still a bit shaky on both but on the right night he’s a perfect fit. The starting lineup here is incredible with good players that make sense on the floor together.
Off the bench Caris LeVert is the 6th man in the classic 6th man role of trying to score a lot in a small amount of time, he also will get significant run with the starters and was in the starting lineup early in the season. Dean Wade is tall and an excellent shooter, Cedi Osman is still chugging along as a nice jack-of-all-trades wing. Kevin Love is a good shooter and smart passer.
This is a really good team, there’s a couple of spots they could stand to upgrade (the Okoro spot in the starting lineup and maybe a bit more umph off the bench) but they are good up and down the roster. IF they can manage to keep everyone happy and healthy this could become something special within a couple of years.
Matchups to watch:
Duren vs. Allen: Jarrett Allen would be more or less the model of what Duren’s upside could look like so this is fun. Both big, strong, athletic bigs who want to own the paint. Allen is awesome but if Duren brings his A game he should be able to compete.
Ivey vs. Garland: We will see how much they actually matchup up but the point guards here are also the headliners tonight. Ivey should have an athletic advantage but Garland is good enough that if Ivey isn’t sharp he could have a long night ahead of him.
Pistons vs. Donovan Mitchell: Might be a good night for some extra Killian Hayes. Other than Hayes no one really stands much chance defensively and Duren still isn’t advanced enough to be a consistent deterrent at the rim for a guy like Mitchell. He could be in for a big night.
Bench vs. Gaining some ground: This is becoming a theme but the Pistons starting lineup is probably dead-meat unless someone gets really hot from the field. The bench probably has to go positive tonight for the Pistons to have a chance.
Pistons vs. General offensive cohesion: The Cavs are awesome on defense and we all know that is bad news for the hapless Pistons offense. I’m not sure exactly what the hope is other than Bojan hitting a bunch of shots, but I hope they at least break 100 tonight.