Pistons vs Cleveland Cavaliers

Game Breakdown

*Special Situations*

• :08 3rd quarter is why you run in from the 3P line to block out the FT shooter (if doubling one side in the lane)....Beasley doesn’t execute it and Mitchell gets an OREB and bucket

Pistons - 101 - 113 L

• Cade, Ivey, THJ, Harris, Duren

  • They love the double drag ball screen into re screen for the first screen (a shooter, often THJ) at the top of the key

    • Really nice ATO at 5:08 2nd quarter where THJ screens on ball, then off ball and then gets a pindown for a good look for a 3PM

  • Cade and Ivey have been the entire offense early in the game and look very good playing WITH and OFF OF each other BUT…….

    • They have like 3 or 4 turnovers together and just ill advised ones at that

    • These continued, most are just careless and multiple seem to lead directly into 3PMs for the Cavs….can they clean them up in the 2nd half?

  • Beasley for Ivey and Stew for Duren which gives A LOT of floor spacing for Cade to operate BUT…..no lob threat

  • 3rd quarter offense seems to be a little sporadic and not the same type of chemistry as we have seen from this team in the preseason and even Game one at times

    • Just seem really strange attempts, rushed attempts, difficult attempts

• CADE off to a hot start right away dribbling into secondary transition mid post fade away

  • Cavs actually have an interesting size matchup with the ability to put Wade on him but Cade hits a mid post isolation fade away on him second possession

    • 4:35 1st quarter is something to watch moving forward as Detroit runs some split action off the Cade post iso (this one ends in a TO)

    • 10:50 3rd quarter is a nasty baseline spin but more impressive is he uses his size to bump Wade off and get the little floater

  • Follows up with a C&S 3PM off a really nice Ivey drive

  • Defensive activity has been AWESOME so far this year

    • Excited to see how it looks Saturday night vs the Celtics when they are playing a back to back

  • The turnovers have been rough, really rough….obviously, you just can’t be this careless

  • The right, left euro and then finish with his left hand through the foul is a TOUGH move and finish

    • He has had multiple TOUGH, impressive drives and finishes in these first two games

    • Also want to highlight the possession before where he set his man up for the hard backdoor that got him a good look for a floater

    • 3:45 3rd quarter floater is a HUGE shot for him because he takes (and makes) that instead of attacking all the way into Allen which probably doesn’t end with a make

  • I continue to dislike the way he does his shot fake….

    • He leans back soooo far that he can’t then get momentum into anything even if the defender does go for it

• IVEY continues to pressure the paint

  • Can’t just look at the assist numbers, he creates the Cade open C&S 3P early in the game but Harris gets the actual “box score stat” with the one more pass

  • Smooth looking C&S 3PM off a Cade drive

  • 6:50 1st is AMAZING process from Ivey

    • Gets a wing ball screen, defender goes under, he doesn’t immediately take the 3PA, he plays with pace/nuance, gets the defender to bite and then gets downhill for a layup

    • AS OPPOSED TO…

      • Transition 3PA to start the 4th quarter, not good process

    • 4:45 4th is another GOOD process

      • Cade gets doubled, Ivey gets the one more pass and turns down the C&S 3PA and instead attacks the closeout for a rim finish

  • Continue to see the need for growth with back to back misses vs Mobley

    • And yes, Mobley is elite rim protector but Ivey needs to work himself into an elite rim finisher OR

    • Knock down the mid range pull up like we see on the next possession OR

    • The nice soft touch with a little floater from outside the lane on the possession after that

    • 11:05 4th he plays through all the contact and traffic for a tough finish though

  • Mitchell did make some really, really tough shots but do think Ivey has made him work

• DUREN with a really tough catch and finish in traffic, love seeing plays like these beyond just the lob finishes

  • I do like his short roll passing decisions

• HARRIS not known for his defense at all but we have seen in these first two games the advantage of having someone with his build take these matchups (Siakam and Mobley)

  • Non existent offensively for the 1st half with 3 mid range misses and not much else

  • I like that JB runs the opening action of the half for him but he misses

  • Gets to the FT line and then knocks down a C&S 3P from the top of the key to get going a bit

• STEW always surprises me with his ability to protect the rim against bigger/longer offensive players

  • The one on Mobley in transition was BIG TIME

  • Had another defensive disruption in ball screen coverage in the 3rd quarter just being active with his hands

• BEASLEY jumper is true and doing it off a dribble or two as well

  • Phone booth regardless of the platform and how he’s coming into it

• REED comes in for Duren in what seemed like a short rotation for him…..

  • Must have needed a quick look from medical staff or conversation with coaching staff because he’s back in a couple minutes later

• THJ defense is going to be an issue all season long

  • He is knocking down shots though!

• FONTECCHIO has not looked ANYTHING like what we saw from him last season

• HOLLAND has gotten into a little “something” every game it seems like

  • Love that the youngster doesn’t back down, plays hard, rebounds and the defense is solid 

  • The offense just has further to go than I even thought

Cavs

• Mitchell, Garland, Wade, Mobley, Allen

  • This is such a MASSIVE front line

  • Pistons turnovers are flat out bad but do want to give Cleveland a little bit of credit for active they are with their hands

  • Pistons are hunting Garland right now which is something I assume many teams will do to them

    • What is their answer to this?

  • Garland and Michell (and even Jerome) putting their passing ability on display throughout the entire 1st half

• WADE could be a huge role player for this team

  • Takes the Cade matchup and then provides floor spacing around the stars

    • Think they are all wide open but 3 for 3 right now on drive and kick opportunities

    • Ends up with 5 for the game

• GARLAND doing a great job playing off of Mitchell and finding corners on his drives for C&S 3PMs

  • Mitchell goes out and he immediately flips the switch to running the show and hits Allen for a poster lob

• ALLEN is such a good big

  • Protects the rim, screens well, rebounds, can catch a lob, can pass, can hit a shot in that in between area

• MOBLEY confidence from beyond the 3P line, would be huge if he kept this all season

  • His rim protection, especially off ball, is ridiculous

  • Traveled a couple times trying to attack a closeout from the 3P line…is this an issue for him?

    • Does it a 3rd time

  • I do like his passing though

• JEROME looking solid, pressure the rim

  • Crafty little finishing in the in between game

  • Has this “awkward” pace with his drives that get defenders off bounce

  • GREAT minutes for him