Feb 24 vs Pistons

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Wrap-Up – After throttling two straight opponents after the Break, the Cavaliers found themselves down two touchdowns early in the third quarter, and it looked like it might be a long second half in Motown. But after a quick timeout, the Wine and Gold proceeded to lock down the Pistons for the rest of the affair – holding the Pistons to just 31 points in the second half and running away with the 102-93 win on Tuesday night at The Palace.

Kevin Love exploded in that third quarter, going 4-for-5 from beyond the arc and scoring 12 of Cleveland’s 24 points in the period. On the night, the three-time All-Star led all scorers with 24 points, with all eight of his field goals coming from long-distance – adding nine boards, three assists and a steal.

LeBron James took over the scoring duties in the final period, netting nine of his 19 points the fourth to go with a game-high 11 assists, seven boards, three steals and a blocked shot.

Kyrie Irving went 6-of-16 from the floor and 6-for-6 from the stripe for 18 points – a dozen of which he scored in the second stanza. And Timofey Mozgov rounded out the Cavaliers in double-figures with 14 points on 5-for-6 shooting – adding six boards and a game-high four blocks. Since February 5, Mozgov is shooting an eye-popping 72 percent from the floor.

The Cavs got 25 points from their bench, including a pair of big treys by James Jones and some tenacious defense from Matthew Dellavedova who, at one point, found himself matched up with Moose Monroe on the baseline. Every sub but Joe Harris (who played a scant 21 seconds) got in the scoring column, including Kendrick Perkins – who officially inked a deal with the Cavs earlier in the day.

Detroit shot 40 percent on the night, but just 30 percent after intermission – including 22 percent in the third period.

The Cavs have now won 17 of their last 19 games and four straight contests at The Palace.

KLove hits 8 triples, LBJ dishes out 11 dimes.

Watch super slow-mo game highlights from Tuesday's victory.

Turning Point – Tuesday’s night turning point was easy to pinpoint – a timeout with 10:41 remaining in the third quarter. The Wine and Gold came out of the locker room flat, but were on a mission once they re-took the floor. Detroit scored the first five points of the second half, but managed just seven the rest of the way.

Kevin Love’s first three-pointer of the period cut Detroit’s lead to single-digits with 9:59 to play, his third tied the game at 70-apiece with 5:37 remaining and his fourth trey 27 seconds later gave Cleveland a three-point lead  and momentum for the remainder of the night.

By the Numbers – 6, 136 … career assists for LeBron James, making him the top assist man among forwards (passing Scottie Pippen) in NBA history.

Quotable – Coach David Blatt, on what changed for the Cavs in the second half of Tuesday’s win …

”We just decided to wake up and start playing the game the way that we have for several weeks now. We weren't defending. We came out of timeouts without the energy and without the grit that we have to have in order to win. We made the point to each other and we lived up to it and then the game changed.”

Up Next – The Cavaliers make a brief stop home after Tuesday night’s win at The Palace, but it’s a big one – taking on the NBA’s top team, the Golden State Warriors, in a nationally-televised matchup at The Q. After that home heavyweight matchup, the Wine and Gold get right back on the road, traveling to Indiana to take on the red-hot Pacers, who’ve won seven of their last nine and snapped Cleveland’s 12-game win streak earlier this month. From there, the Cavs head to the Lone Star State where they’ll face off against the Rockets on Sunday afternoon at the Toyota Center. David Blatt’s squad comes home to take on Boston, but get right back on the road afterwards. All in all, Cleveland doesn’t play two straight home games until March 18.

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Defense, Whole Lotta Love Push Cavs Past Pistons

Cavs.com

(On Cleveland's play versus Pistons): "We just decided to wake up and start playing the game the way that we have for several weeks now. We weren't defending. We came out of timeouts without the energy and without the grit that we have to have in order to win. We made the point to each other and we lived up to it and then the game changed."

(On LeBron James and Kevin Love): "He (LeBron James) was plus 27 when he was on the court. You saw his determination and his understanding of the moment and, if I might add, I thought Kevin played another terrific game. Kevin was great on defense, too. He was terrific all around. You saw LeBron was looking for him and picked up on the fact that he had it going. He made the passes and Kevin delivered."

(On Cleveland's play versus Pistons): "We were down nine and then 15 early in the third. We came back out with a great mindset on the defensive end. It just showed a lot. Detroit is a pretty good team. We just kept getting stop after stop."

(On team's play in future): "The sky is the limit. We'll take it one game at a time."

(On defensive play): "We wanted to be more aggressive. We did a great job competing. They had 35 points in the second quarter and then they finished the second half with 31 or 32. We know what we have to do. We just have to go out there and do it.

(On Kevin Love): "Kevin came in and hit those threes - wide open looks. Those are shots we've got to have. If it wasn't for him we wouldn't have been in the game."

(On team chemistry and the loss): “I don’t think the loss was a chemistry issue. We just weren’t very strong against their pressure over the last 18 minutes. I saw some really good things in the game during the first 30 minutes that I think are promising for this team. We’ve had trouble from time to time when teams put pressure on us and we haven’t handled it well. We’ve got to handle the ball better and make stronger moves. I’m not down on our guys at all. I thought our guys competed hard. I thought defensively, we were good. Kevin Love’s eight three-point shots were the only major issue for us.”

(On Reggie Jackson): “I thought he (Reggie Jackson) played really well. I liked the way he rebounded the ball. He still has to get better at the defensive end and that’s something we’ve got to work on. Offensively, I thought he played well. He was aggressive and made good solid plays.”

(On Tayshaun Prince’s debut): “I thought he (Tayshaun Prince) got off to a good start. I thought he played good, solid basketball. I’m sure he wanted to make more shots, but that you can’t control. I thought he was pretty solid.”

(On the second half vs. Cavaliers): “They turned up their defense.  They started getting into us and we couldn’t do things as comfortably as we did in the first half.  That was the major difference.”

(On Reggie Jackson’s play tonight vs. Cavaliers): “He’s a great penetrator, he gets to the rim really well coming off screens as long as he’s aggressive.  He has size, he has athleticism to score over bigger guys, makes plays in the lane.  I think he’s going to fit in well.”

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Game Quotes: Cavaliers at Detroit Pistons - Feb. 24

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Listen to Radio Play-by-Play announcer John Michael's Call of the Game during the Cavaliers at Detroit Pistons game on February 24, 2015. Kevin Love cans one of his eight triples to give the Cavs the lead for good at 73-70.

Escucha a la voz en español de los Cavaliers Rafa "El Alcalde" con la narración de la jugada del partido entre Los Cavaliers de Cleveland y Los Los Pistons de Detroit en El Palace de Auburn Hills, Michigan  el 24 de Febrero del 2015.  Los Cavs derrotaron a Los Pistons 102-93 con una gran actuación defensiva en la segunda mitad, limitando a Detroit a 31 puntos y liderados por Kevin Love que anoto 8 triples en la noche. El octavo puso a Los Cavs arriba en el marcador en el tercer cuarto y Los Cavs no volvieron a perder la ventaja consiguiendo así la victoria numero 17 en los últimos 19 partidos.

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Call of the Game: Cavs at Detroit Pistons - Feb. 24

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Cleveland Cavaliers at Detroit Pistons - February 24, 2015

Cavaliers forward Shawn Marion returned to Cleveland from New York to have his left hip examined at Cleveland Clinic Sports Health. The results of the exam and imaging revealed a left hip strain. He will undergo a treatment and rehab process and is expected to be Out for approximately two weeks.

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Cavaliers Status Update - Shawn Marion - Feb. 24

The Cavaliers will wrap up their three-game road trip tonight when they face off against the Detroit Pistons for the third of four regular season meetings. Tipoff is at 7:30 p.m. ET.

Cleveland (35-22) have won the first two games of this road trip by an average margin of 28.0 points (114.0-86.0), while also outshooting their opponents .509 to .405. The Cavs have also held their two recent road opponents to a combined .114 (4-35) shooting from behind-the-arc.

The Wine and Gold are an NBA-best 16-2 (.889) since Jan. 15. Over that stretch, the Cavs rank 1st in points per game differential (+12.5), 1st in field goal percentage (.479), 1st in three-pointers made (201), 3rd in points per game (108.6) and 5th in three-point percentage (.372). Defensively since that time, the Wine and Gold are 4th in opp. field goal percentage (.420), 2nd in opp. three-point percentage (.314) and 9th in opp. ppg (96.1).

Detroit (23-33) has won 18 of their last 28 games coming into tonight's contest including 10 of 15 at the Palace of Auburn Hills.

The Pistons ranked 28th with 97.6 points per 100 possessions during a 5-23 start, but have been among the league's best since, averaging 106.5 points.

WTAM 1100, 100.7 WMMS, 87.7 FM La Mega, AM 1590 WAKR (Akron)

Get into the conversation with other die-hards.

Probable Starters/Status Update*presented by Cleveland Clinic

Status Update: Anderson Varejao, (Left Achilles Tendon Rupture, Out), Shawn Marion, (Left Hip Strain, Out)

Pistons: PG - Reggie Jackson, SG - Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, SF - Caron Butler PF - Greg Monroe, C - Andre Drummond

Status Update: (Pistons) - Brandon Jennings, (Ruptured Left Achilles Tendon, Out)

The Cavaliers have won four of the last five games against the Pistons, including the last three at the Palace of Auburn Hills.

The last time the two Central Division foes faced off in Detroit, the Cavs were victorious, 103-95 on Jan. 27. Kyrie Irving scored 16 points in the fourth quarter and finished with 38 points on 13-23 (.565) shooting, including 6-10 (.600) from beyond the arc, three rebounds, six assists, a game-high three steals and one block in 42 minutes. LeBron James added 32 points, a 10-11 (.909) mark from the free throw line, six rebounds, a team-high seven assists and one steal in 36 minutes, while Tristan Thompson pulled down a team-high 12 rebounds (six offensive) and added four points in 27 minutes off the bench.

The Wine and Gold trail the all-time series against the Pistons 82-118 (52-48 Home, 29-71 Road).

TV: FOX Sports Ohio, Radio: WTAM 1100, 100.7 WMMS, 87.7 FM La Mega, AM 1590 WAKR (Akron)

Tune into #CavsLive on FOX Sports Ohio starting at 7:00 p.m.

For live in-game updates, follow @cavs, @CavsJoeG, @CavsFredMcLeod, @MrCavalier34, @CavsJMike, @chones22, @FSOAllieOop and @ElalcaldeRafa on Twitter.

Programming Note: Tonight, FOX Sports Ohio is airing the Blue Jackets – Sabres game (7:00 p.m.) and the Cavs – Pistons game (7:30 p.m.). More Info | View Conflict Schedule

After tonight's game, the Wine and Gold head back to Cleveland to square off against the Golden State Warriors on Thursday at 8:00 p.m. ET.

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GameDay Preview: Cavaliers at Detroit Pistons

On Tuesday, February 24, 2015, FOX Sports Ohio is airing the Blue Jackets – Sabres game (7:00 p.m.) and the Cavs – Pistons game (7:30 p.m.). Please refer to these programming details. This information is also available online HERE.

Cavaliers Live Pregame Show begins at 7:00 p.m. | Tipoff at 7:30 p.m.

Cleveland, Toledo, Youngstown/Erie, Bowling Green, KY and Wheeling/Steubenville areas:

Columbus, Lima, Cincinnati, Dayton, Louisville/Lexington and Charleston/Huntington areas:

The game will also replay on all FOX Sports Ohio channels at 12 midnight and Wednesday, Feb. 25th at 12 noon.

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Programming Note: Cavs at Detroit Pistons - Feb. 24

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