Cavaliers Catch Fire in Game 2 Victory

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The Cleveland Cavaliers took Game 2 over the Detroit Pistons by a 107-90 score. This result was made possible by Cleveland torching it from deep: 20-38 on threes and 40-80 from the field overall. J.R. Smith made 7 of those threes, Kyrie Irving had 4, and Kevin Love had 3. LeBron James reached 27 points on 12-18 shooting.

For Detroit, they finished shooting 43.6 percent from the field and only made 4-of-17 attempts from deep. Andre Drummond‘s 20 point/7 rebound game certainly looks nice, although a 4-16 free throw effort is enough to trump anything else.

Too many Detroit players struggled for Game 2 to end in its favor. Marcus Morris and Tobias Harris combined to go 5-for-21, and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope had to take 12 shots to get his 13 points. The turnover totals for each team was 12, meaning the Pistons basically didn’t win any key categories such as they did in Game 1 which gave them a chance.

Game 2 presented a surprise in that no one reasonably expected the Cavs to drill 20 threes. That number alone is as responsible as anything else for the Detroit loss. Missed fourth quarter opportunities in Game 1 and an inability to defend the three in Game 2 are why Detroit faces this series hole.

That stated, I still don’t anticipate a sweep. Detroit should snag at least a game heading home, and look for the Pistons team balanced approach to be enough to bring a win (I don’t foresee Morris/Harris struggling to such a degree at home).

Game 3 will be in Detroit on Friday, 4/22 at 7:00 PM ET.

Detroit
Player	Pos	Min	FGM-FGA	FTM-FTA	3PM-3PA	+/-	OR	Reb	A	Blk	Stl	TO	PF	Pts
M. Morris	F	34:06	2-10	6-6	1-5	+3	1	7	2	0	1	2	5	11
T. Harris	F	32:52	3-11	7-8	0-1	+2	3	8	4	1	0	1	5	13
A. Drummond	C	36:24	8-13	4-16	0-0	-4	5	7	0	1	1	3	2	20
K. Caldwell-P	G	37:12	5-12	1-2	2-6	-8	0	8	2	1	1	1	2	13
R. Jackson	G	36:48	7-14	0-0	0-0	+6	2	4	6	1	3	1	3	14
S. Johnson		21:41	4-7	0-0	1-2	-20	0	2	0	0	0	2	1	9
R. Bullock		12:18	2-3	0-0	0-1	-14	0	2	2	0	1	0	0	4
S. Blake		9:31	0-2	0-0	0-1	-20	0	0	1	0	0	2	0	0
A. Tolliver		9:21	0-1	0-0	0-1	-15	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	0
A. Baynes		6:25	1-3	0-0	0-0	-9	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	2
S. Dinwiddie		1:41	1-1	0-0	0-0	-3	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	2
J. Meeks		1:41	1-1	0-0	0-0	-3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2
J. Anthony	DNP — COACH’S DECISION
L. Brown	DNP — INACTIVE
D. Hilliard	DNP — INACTIVE
Totals		240	34-78 (.436)	18-32 (.563)	4-17 (.235)	–	11	40	19	4	7	12	18	90

 

Cleveland
Player	Pos	Min	FGM-FGA	FTM-FTA	3PM-3PA	+/-	OR	Reb	A	Blk	Stl	TO	PF	Pts
L. James	F	39:44	12-18	1-3	2-4	+10	1	6	3	0	3	5	3	27
K. Love	F	31:43	5-14	3-6	3-7	-1	1	10	2	0	0	1	2	16
T. Thompson	C	13:23	0-0	0-0	0-0	+4	1	1	1	0	0	0	2	0
K. Irving	G	33:42	8-18	2-3	4-7	-1	1	1	4	0	2	1	0	22
J.R. Smith	G	34:25	7-13	0-0	7-11	-4	0	5	1	0	0	1	4	21
R. Jefferson		23:24	1-3	0-0	1-3	+25	1	2	0	0	0	0	3	3
M. Dellavedov		22:01	3-5	1-2	1-1	+25	0	1	9	0	1	1	3	8
I. Shumpert		17:50	1-4	0-0	0-2	+2	1	6	2	0	1	0	2	2
C. Frye		11:02	1-2	0-0	1-2	+18	0	4	0	1	0	1	4	3
T. Mozgov		9:07	0-1	0-0	0-0	-2	0	0	1	0	0	2	1	0
D. Jones		1:13	0-0	0-0	0-0	+3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
J. Jones		1:13	0-0	0-0	0-0	+3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
J. McRae		1:13	2-2	0-0	1-1	+3	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	5
S. Kaun	DNP — INACTIVE
M. Williams	DNP — INACTIVE
Totals		240	40-80 (.500)	7-14 (.500)	20-38 (.526)	–	6	37	23	1	7	12	24	107

 

Officials: Ken Mauer, Kane Fitzgerald, Brian Forte Time of Game: 2:36

Technicals Detroit – M. Morris (3:16 – 2nd Qtr)