A 40-15 run by the Cleveland Cavaliers, led by a red-hot Darius Garland, buried the Detroit Pistons midway through the third quarter.
The Pistons were unable to build on their Tuesday road win over the Chicago Bulls, losing to the Cavaliers at home, 110-100, on Friday night. The game wasn’t as close as the final score, as Detroit trailed by 26 in the second quarter and by double digits for most of the second half before a late rally.
Cade Cunningham led the Pistons with 21 points and 10 assists, and Isaiah Stewart added 16 points and nine rebounds while knocking down four of his seven 3-point attempts. The Pistons shot just 10-36 (27.8%) from 3 while the Cavaliers made 18 of their 41 attempts, a 24-point gap that Detroit couldn’t overcome.
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Garland finished with 29 points and knocked down eight of his 12 3-pointers, six of which fell during an 18-point second quarter for the guard. Evan Mobley added 22 points, 17 rebounds and seven assists.
A late 26-14 rally in the fourth period allowed the Pistons to cut the score to eight, 105-97, with less than three minutes remaining. But it was too late. Garland responded to two free throws from Jalen Duren (14 points, 10 rebounds) with a mid-range jumper to bring Cleveland’s lead back to double digits.
The Pistons then closed within seven, with a 3-pointer by Jaden Ivey extending their streak to 29-16 to cut the score to 107-100 with 1:22 to play. Cleveland closed out the victory with a pair of free throws each from Mobley and Max Strus.
The Cavaliers were without All-NBA guard Donovan Mitchell (left knee soreness) and Michigan alum Caris LeVert (right elbow sprain). The Pistons were without Marcus Sasser, who missed his fourth straight game with a right knee contusion.
The unit made up of all benches is still in difficulty
It’s become a familiar cadence for the Pistons: The starters open the game with competitive energy, only for the opposing team to take a lead against an all-bench unit late in the first quarter. Friday’s defeat followed the script.
An 11-0 run by the Cavaliers to open the game was quickly answered by the Pistons starters, who tied the game at 14 by making six of eight shot attempts after missing their first five. Detroit initially maintained its momentum as substitutions began, but the game slipped away as Monty Williams moved deeper into his bench.
Simone Fontecchio and Quentin Grimes were the first two to check in, along with Jaden Ivey and Ausar Thompson. A mid-range jumper by Grimes brought the Pistons within one, 23-22, at 3:19. Malachi Flynn, Evan Fournier and James Wiseman then arrived, joining Fontecchio and Grimes. From there, Cleveland took complete control.
With Mobley still on the floor, the Flynn-Grimes-Fournier-Fontecchio-Wiseman unit was crushed. Cleveland closed the first with a 9-2 run, with Wiseman scoring Detroit’s only bucket with a dunk following a wraparound pass from Fontecchio. The streak stretched to 14-2 before Williams replaced Cunningham and Ivey less than three minutes into the second, but Detroit couldn’t find any rhythm on either end.
By the time Garland returned at 8:37, the Pistons trailed by 13 points. That’s when the game got out of hand, as Garland knocked down six 3-pointers before halftime to push Cleveland’s lead up to 26.
At the end of the third quarter, Detroit’s bench had just six points – four from Wiseman and two from Grimes. The starters closed the first half with an 11-0 run to cut the deficit to 15, and that was as close as the Pistons could get until a 3-pointer from Thompson cut it to 13 in the middle of the fourth.
Williams refused to go to the bench in the second half, and was one of the main reasons Detroit was able to get within 10 points in the final quarter.
Garland’s 3-point barrage
The All-Star guard caught fire like a meteor in the second half, knocking down six 3-pointers from 8:30 until 4:02 remained in the game. That included four straight makes to give the Cavaliers their largest lead of the night, 63-37. As a team, Cleveland made nine of its 16 attempts in the quarter, nearly matching Detroit’s total for the night.
Garland made his seventh and eighth 3-pointers in the third to cut Cleveland’s lead to 23, 75-52, and help his team open the third with a 14-4 run.
Another roster change
After the game, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported that the Pistons and guard Shake Milton have agreed to a contract buyout. The deal comes on a day when players must be free agents to sign with another and be eligible for the playoffs.
Milton, who joined the Pistons in the Monte Morris trade last month, has not played in the last four games. The six-year veteran averaged 6.8 points in four games in Detroit, playing just under 16 minutes per game. He didn’t play heavy minutes with Minnesota before this season’s trade.
Contact Omari Sankofa II at [email protected]. follow him @omarisankofa.
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