Cavaliers VS Pistons (Game 1)

Cavs Lead Series 1-0

Stan Van Gundy and his team fought. They fought hard. For a good amount of the 4th quarter, it looked like they had the game, then the pressure got to them. They just couldn't close it out. Reggie Jackson lost his composure, they just couldn't finish it. But they sure put up a fight and made this series interesting for sure.

The Pistons really fought hard. The Cavs were very focused on stopping the Reggie Jackson and Andre Drummond pick and roll. However, they left Detroit's shooters wide open. The Pistons took advantage of these kick-outs as they made 15 threes and shot 51.7% from deep. Their efficiency from the 3-point line really kept them in the game.

I was very impressed with Cleveland. They finished the night with only 4 turnovers. All of those turnovers were off of steals too. You could tell just how disciplined this Cavs team was on offense. I was also shocked with their ability to move the ball. They rarely went into isolation and LeBron seemed to always make the extra pass. This ball movement and so little turnovers is really what kept them in this game. However, the Cavs really need to step up their defense on getting out on the shooters if they are to really pull away in this series.

The Cavs did a great job on the boards. They limited Drummond to 11 boards which is well below his average and they actually won the rebounding battle against a team that is well known for its rebounding.

The Pistons had a big lift from their bench. Stanly Johnson and Steve Blake played a big part in this game. They did a great job defending and Steve Blake always found the open guy. Those guys were great defensively. However, all of the Cavs big 3 had over 20 points. They dominated on the floor together.

I am concerned for the Cavs on how LeBron is going to hold up through this. He was the only player in this game to have at least 40 minutes and he was getting tired. You could tell too. He had the worst speed average, worse than Aron Baynes speed. He isn't keeping up with the other players and it's from fatigue. As the playoffs go on, can he keep this up? 40 minutes on the court is a long time. I don't if he can keep logging that many minutes a night.