WRAP-UP
J.B. Bickerstaff talked all offseason about building a culture of toughness and teamwork. Saturday night’s nail-biter in Detroit provided the perfect building block.
The Cavaliers rallied late -- twice -- scoring the final eight points of regulation and the final nine points of the first overtime session before blowing past the Pistons in the second overtime to win their second straight to start the season.
The last time the Cavaliers were 2-0 to start the season without LeBron James on the roster the starting forward matchup was Lamond Murray against Chris Webber.
The Wine & Gold looked sunk when Delon Wright drilled a three-pointer to put the Pistons up eight, 101-93, with 4:05 to play in regulation. Cleveland held Detroit scoreless the rest of the way, tying the game on Andre Drummond’s free throws with 1:08 remaining.
Lightning struck twice when the Pistons went up, 112-103, with 2:05 remaining in overtime and things looked bleak again. But a Kevin Love triple, followed by a pair of Collin Sexton layups knotted the contest at 112-apiece, forcing a second overtime.
The Cavs jumped all over Detroit over those final five minutes – shooting 71 percent in the period and pulling away late for the win.
There was no shortage of heroes on Saturday night – but Sexton was a relentless force all night and led both squads with 32 points, going 15-for-23 from the floor, including 2-of-3 from deep, adding three steals and three assists.
Once again, Sexton’s backcourt partner was just as good – finishing with 21 points and a career-high 12 assists, going 9-of-14 from the floor, hitting all three three-point attempts, adding five boards, a pair of steals and a block.
Andre Drummond made his first appearance in Detroit since being traded to Cleveland at last year’s Deadline. The ninth-year man got off to a slow start, going 1-of-8 from the floor before intermission but he was outstanding in the second stanza and beyond – notching 23 points and a game-high 16 boards, adding five assists, four steals and three swats. Drummond also came up big from the stripe late – going 6-of-8 in the fourth quarter.
Cedi Osman was excellent off the bench on Saturday – chipping in with 22 points on 7-for-12 shooting, going 4-of-7 from long-distance and 4-of-6 from the stripe.
Kevin Love returned to the starting lineup after missing the home opener with a strained calf – adding 15 points, nine boards and three assists in 37 minutes of work.
Miss any of the action? Find all the highlights and photos in the Game Tracker.
HIGHLIGHT
JaVale McGee grabs the Detroit miss, goes coast-to-coast, shows off his ballhandling, and finishes the fastbreak with a big one-handed jam.
TURNING POINT
Saturday’s thriller had multiple twists and turns before the game went into overtime, but things got really wild after regulation.
The Cavaliers put the double-comeback on ice over the final two minutes of the first overtime and the first two of the next one – using a 19-0 run to remove all doubt.
Sexton scored consecutive buckets to start that second OT session, followed by a Darius Garland three that was followed by three free throws from Kevin Love. When the smoke cleared, the Cavs were up 10 – 122-112 – and with Christmas in the rearview mirror, were not in the giving mood.
BY THE NUMBERS
By the Numbers – 29.5, .615, .714 … Collin Sexton’s scoring average, along with his shooting percentage from the floor and beyond the arc, through the first two games of the year.
CALLS OF THE GAME
Enjoy the best broadcast calls of the night from Cavaliers Radio Network's Tim Alcorn and Rafa Hernandez-Brito from Power 89.1.
QUOTABLE
Quotable – Collin Sexton , on getting a late push on both ends of the floor …
"At the end of the day, you’re gonna miss shots, but as long as you continue to fight on the defensive end, I feel like the shots will definitely start to. For me, I feel like my energy starts on the defensive end. If I feel like I’m not into the game defensively, it’s kind of hard to make shots. I made sure I started picking up full-court down the stretch and everything pretty much started rolling."
UP NEXT
The Cavaliers will need to sleep fast after improving to 2-0, with Joel Embiid and the Sixers coming to town to complete the second half of the weekend back-to-back on Sunday night at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.
The Cavaliers welcome the Knicks to town on Tuesday night before wrapping up the 2020 calendar year on New Year’s Eve afternoon against the Pacers in Indianapolis – the first of six straight on the road.