Key: On the Road Again
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The Wine & Gold are hitting the road for their longest trip of the year – but they’ve got a stop in Motown, and maybe some revenge, to take care of before they head West.
The Cavaliers and Pistons staged a Central Division slugfest on Tuesday night at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse, and unlike Detroit’s previous visit, this one came down to the wire – with Derrick Rose and Tony Snell capping a late rally to wrap up their extended roadie with a win. Cleveland led by six with just under three to play before watching the Pistons chip away from there.
Things don’t get any easier for John Beilein’s young squad after they wrap up the home-and-home series in Detroit – traveling west to take on a pair of Division leaders before wrapping up in the Windy City. From Detroit, they take on the Nuggets, Lakers, Clippers and Grizzlies before taking on the Bulls to complete the mid-season sojourn.
Despite the loss, the Cavaliers played a pretty solid game – handing out 29 assists on 42 makes, shooting 45 percent from long-range and hitting on 15-of-16 free throws. Kevin Love led all scorers with 30 points on 12-for-15 shooting, including 4-of-6 from long-range.
The Wine & Gold will look to piece it all back together on Thursday night, with the final meeting against Detroit slated for January 27 back here at Little Caesar’s Arena.
Key: Chairmen of the Boards
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With Andre Drummond, what you see is what you get. Opponents expect the former UConn star to put up big numbers, and he does just that.
Drummond was a beast once again on Tuesday night in Cleveland – finishing with 23 points, 20 rebounds, five assists, two blocks and a steal. That performance was Drummond’s sixth 20-point, 20-rebound night of the season.
This year, Drummond again leads the league in all rebounding categories, is the only player in the league in the top-10 in steals per game and blocks per game and is tied with Giannis atop the NBA for most double-doubles. In 29 career meetings against Cleveland, the two-time All-Star has averages of 15.8 points and 13.4 boards per.
Tristan Thompson gets the unenviable task to taking on Drummond in back-to-back games, but he’s posted pretty good numbers of his own – tallying 29 total rebounds in two games against Detroit this year, 12 of those off the offensive glass. In Tuesday night’s loss, Thompson finished with a season-high-tying 15 boards to go with eight points, four assists and a pair of blocks.
The longest-tenured Cavalier has been good all-around of late – grabbing double-digit boards in eight of his last nine outings, averaging 12.3 boards per, good for 6th in the NBA over that stretch.
Key: A Knight's Tale
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As good as the Cavaliers starting guards have been this season, over the past couple games it’s been their backcourt off the bench that’s given the squad its biggest lift.
In Sunday night’s loss to Minnesota, the newest Cavalier – Dante Exum – went off for a career-high 28 points in just 24 minutes of work, going 11-of-13 from the floor, including 4-of-4 from beyond the arc. The fifth-year man – acquired in a Christmas Eve deal with Utah – scored 24 of those points in the second half – 12 in each of the final two quarters, adding three boards and a pair of assists.
But Exum caught the flu bug that’s been circulating the squad and was out for Tuesday’s game. In his place, Brandon Knight and Matthew Dellavedova stepped up.
Knight got his longest run of the year and finished with 13 points on 5-of-9 shooting, including 3-of-7 from beyond the arc to go with five assists and a blocked shot in 24 minutes off the bench. Delly finished with just three points, but led the Cavaliers with nine assists in just 19 minutes of work. The last Cavalier to hand out that many dimes in under 20 minutes was Terrell Brandon back in 1993.
As good as the Cavaliers reserve guards were on Tuesday, Derrick Rose – who’s on a serious heater – was that much better.
The former MVP is having an outstanding season in Detroit and has been excellent of late. His 24-point outing on Tuesday – netting 11 of those in the fourth quarter – was his third straight 20 points outing and fifth in his last six games. At 17.8ppg, Rose is the top-scoring reserve in the Eastern Conference.