CLEVELAND, Ohio – I can tell you that it’s only one game, which is so true in a best-of-seven playoff series.
I can tell you that the Cavs looked hopeless when they were down by 18 points to the Detroit Pistons early in the game. They were even behind by 11 points in the fourth quarter and came back to tie the score.
I can tell you that the Cavs weren’t physically overwhelmed in their 111-101 loss to the Pistons in this second-round playoff series.
But I can tell you something you know if you watched the game … turnovers.
The Cavs keep making sloppy passes. They dribble into trouble. They don’t keep the ball moving.
Nineteen turnovers.
Thirty-one points for the Pistons off those turnovers.
That’s the difference in this game.
“At the end of the day, they were the more aggressive team,” Cavs coach Kenny Atkinson told reporters after the loss. “Energy on a scale of 1-to-10, they were a 9 1/2. We were a seven.”
James Harden had seven turnovers.AP
Need more from Harden
Lots of guilty turnover parties, with the leader in the locker room being … one guess … James Harden.
He had seven turnovers … SEVEN!
It comes after he averaged 5.6 turnovers in the seven-game series vs. Toronto. That was the second-most turnovers of anyone in the playoffs.
I’m going to be fair to Harden.
He scored 22 points, including 11 in the fourth quarter to make it interesting. He has been helping on the boards. He had eight rebounds in this game, and nine each in the previous two games.
Harden does a good job drawing fouls. He was 9-for-9 from the foul line.
But Harden was brought to Cleveland partly to help the Cavs handle pressure defense. That was something that doomed them in the second round of the 2025 playoffs vs. Indiana.
There are times when the 36-year-old Harden looks … well … 36 … and a step or three slow. He can’t find ways to drive between double-teaming defense as he once did. The quickness isn’t there.
Harden wasn’t alone in giving the ball to the other team. Dennis Schröder scored nine points in 16 minutes, but he also had four turnovers. Donovan Mitchell had three.
It was a battle for rebounds all night between the Cavs and Detroit. (Devin Anderson-Torrez | MLive.com)
They knew what was coming
The Pistons are the NBA’s premier defensive team. Coached by old friend J.B. Bickerstaff, they have “embraced the grit,” one of Bickerstaff’s mantras from his days coaching the Cavs.
“This is going to be a physical series,” Bickerstaff said before Game 1. “The way we play, the grittiness we play with every single possession, there’s going to be contact. There’s going to be guys on the floor. There’s going to be a war in the trenches. We’re going to do that no matter who our opponent is.”
- BETTING: The over/under for Thursday’s Game 2 between the Cavs and the Pistons is set at 215.5 points on BetMGM. Our complete BetMGM Sportsbook review provides a helpful guide on how to use their app.
That’s especially true in this game, the Pistons having watched the Cavs average 17 turnovers per game (a first-round playoff high) in the Toronto series.
“The intent is how many teams can do that for 48 minutes?” said Bickerstaff, meaning the pressure and his team’s relentless defense. “It’s not going to be easy for either one of us. They are a really good basketball team. It’s going to be a hard series. It’s going to be a long series.”
One of the mistakes Atkinson made was leaving Jarrett Allen on the court after he committed two quick fouls. The second was 5:24 into the game. A minute later, he was whistled for his third.
That led to Allen being on the bench for the rest of the first half.
Allen never did find his feel for the game. He scored two points and had three rebounds in 18 minutes.
The Cavs were not destroyed on the boards. The Pistons had a 45-41 advantage, which doesn’t look bad.
A problem was that Detroit had 19 second-chance points. Sometimes, their strategy is to sort of throw the ball up at the rim, then crash the boards for an offensive rebound and score that way.
It’s only one game
The Pistons are a very good team. Their 60-22 record wasn’t an accident. They earned it with their zest for defense and general mental toughness.
But they are not a highly skilled team when it comes to scoring. They will likely have some miserable shooting nights in this series. It happened to them in the first round vs. Orlando.
Meanwhile, the Cavs can play better offense.
Mitchell was averaging 32 points in Game 1s of all of his playoff series. This night, he scored 23 on 9-for-19 shooting.
In the second half, he was 3-for-8 shooting and scored only seven points. He went to the foul line once (1-for-2).
More is needed from Mitchell. Atkinson said he is pushing Mitchell to drive to the rim more. Detroit did not double-team him defensively with the same force as Toronto.
The Cavs will look at the video of this game and see lots of squandered opportunities – especially their lousy court spacing and lazy passes. Too often, the ball stayed on the same side of the court, making them easy to defend.
Defensively, the Cavs did a solid job on Detroit superstar Cade Cunningham. Yes, he scored 23 points, but he shot 6-for-19. He had four turnovers. Dean Wade and Jaylon Tyson deserve credit for making it harder for the Detroit point guard.
But Cunningham was smart enough to drive and draw fouls when his shots were shaky. He was 9-for-11 from the free throw line. Detroit was 27-for-35 from the foul line compared to 15-for-16 for the Cavs.
Atkinson wisely didn’t blame the officials for the disparity in free throws. He mentioned that teams going to the foul line more often also “show more energy.” That was the case and the difference in this game.
And please …
BE MORE CAREFUL WHEN HANDLING THE BALL!
– This post has been updated to correct the number of turnovers committed by the Cavs in Game 1.
