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Key: Motown Matchup
On Monday night, a pair of well-rested Central Division squads square off in Motown – with both teams taking the floor after an unprecedented four-day break. Tonight’s meeting will be the second time this season at Little Caesars Arena, with both home contests for Cleveland coming in March.
In that October loss, six Cavaliers notched double-figures, but it was a case of too much Andre Drummond and Blake Griffin to handle as they dropped the, 110-103, decision.
The Cavaliers are looking to forget their last outing before the break – coming off an ugly 24-point defeat in the nation’s capital, a tough defeat on the heels of probably their most complete performance of the season in a win over Charlotte the previous evening.
The Pistons probably wish they could have kept their roll going after one of their most satisfying wins in recent memory last Wednesday night in Toronto – with Reggie Bullock completing a 19-point second-half comeback, canning the game-winner to give Dwane Casey, fired by the Raptors after last season, a small taste of revenge.
The Cavs would love to avenge their early-season loss on Monday – and start to make a little progress into their big home matchup with the Lakers on Wednesday night.
Key: Andre the Giant
The traditional big man in today’s high-scoring, long-range-shooting NBA is somewhat of a dinosaur.
If that’s the case, the Wine & Gold will face the Conference’s apex predator on Monday night – taking on the league’s leading rebounder, Andre Drummond, who also topped the 20-point plateau in four straight games before Detroit’s recent win over Toronto.
So far this season, Drummond has posted seven games of at least 20 points and 10 boards, including his monster effort against Cleveland back on October 25 – going off for a season-high 26 points to go with 22 boards and a blocked shot.
That was the second time in the past three matchups with Cleveland that Drummond has gone for 20-20, shooting 74 percent from the floor over that stretch.
Tristan Thompson hasn’t been quite that dominant, but he has been outstanding over the past few weeks. In his last outing against Washington, Thompson nearly notched his fifth straight double-double – finishing with nine points and a team-best eight boards.
Over his last eight games, the blue collar big is averaging 12.5 points and 12.4 boards per contest and, on the season, is averaging a double-double (10.1 ppg, 10.8 rpg).
The Wine & Gold will need everything he has on Monday night in Motown.
Key: On-the-Job Training
Last year, the Pistons season fell apart when point man Reggie Jackson went down with an injury just after Christmas. But the explosive guard from Boston College is back this year, and Detroit has been back in business.
Jackson got off to a strong start to the season – notching at least 16 points through the first four games – and has been solid ever since, tallying three 20-point games since.
In the Pistons October 25 win over the Cavs, Jackson went for 16 points, but he struggled to do so – going 4-of-12 from the floor and just 5-of-10 from the stripe. He’s posted three career 20-point games against the Cavs, but hasn’t been very good of late – shooting just 31 percent from the floor over the last three matchups.
Jackson represents another tough test for rookie Collin Sexton, who faced off against Kemba Walker and John Wall in his previous two starts.
The Young Bull seems to be making progress with each passing game and is coming off a career-best 24-point performance in last Wednesday night’s loss in Washington – going 9-of-16 from the floor, including 2-of-3 from long-range to go with three boards and a pair of assists.
Sexton also had a solid game in the first meeting against Detroit – notching 14 points, five assists and a pair of steals in 25 minutes of work off the bench.
Key: Second That Emotion
Both squads come into tonight’s contest boasting a strong second unit.
The Pistons have relied on Ish Smith to provide the spark early in the season, and he responded – tallying double-figures in five of his first six games. But as he’s slowed down, Langston Galloway has picked up the slack, netting double-figures off the bench in each of his last six games – averaging 14.9 points on 51 percent shooting over that stretch.
Rugged fourth-year forward Stanley Johnson can also bring the heat – having scored 13 points in relief last Wednesday in Toronto, two games removed from a 22-point effort against the Hawks.
Jordan Clarkson has been Cleveland’s main weapon off the bench all year, but it was Kyle Korver who led the reserves in a season-high 64-point outburst in the first meeting with Detroit – finishing with a season-best 21 points on 7-for-10 shooting, including 4-of-7 from three-point range in just 22 minutes of work.
Clarkson, the squad’s leading scorer, failed to reach double-figures for the first time this season in last Wednesday’s loss, tallying just nine points on 4-for-13 shooting.
David Nwaba picked up a little bit of that slack, registering double-figures for the second straight game with an 11-point effort last week in D.C.
Key: Facing Forward
If the Cavaliers are able to contain Andre Drummond – something they were unable to accomplish last time – they still have to deal with Blake Griffin, one of just two players (along with the Greek Freak) averaging at least 20 points, 10 boards and five assists so far this season.
So far this year, the former No. 1 overall pick has seven games of at least 20 points and 10 boards (including a 26-point, 10-rebound effort on October 25 against Cleveland) and has gone for more than 30 on four occasions, including his 50-point outburst in the third game of the season in a win over Philly.
The five-time All-Star has the most points through the first 13 games of the year since Jerry Stackhouse back in 2000-01 and has even extended his range this season – canning five triples in a game twice already this season.
Larry Nance Jr. – inserted into the starting lineup three games ago – gets the unenviable task of trying to slow Griffin down.
Despite notching double-figures in last week’s loss in Washington, Nance never found his rhythm and had his streak of double-digit rebound performances snapped after averaging 13.0 boards through his first two starts.
Nance played a solid floor game in the first meeting with Detroit – coming off the bench to tally 11 points, six boards, five assists and three steals in 27 minutes of work.