When the Cleveland Cavaliers and Detroit Pistons take the floor tonight, the immediate fate of both teams will already be decided. The Pistons were eliminated from playoff contention a week ago and now face an important offseason, while the Cavaliers are going to the No. 2 seed in the East and have locked up the Central Division. Aside from the fact that this game has to be played, this game does not matter.
Who: Cleveland Cavaliers vs. Detroit Pistons
When: 7 p.m.
Where: Quicken Loans Arena - Cleveland, Ohio
TV Information: FOX Sports Ohio
Enemy Blog: Detroit Bad Boys
Music: Smuckers - Tyler, The Creator
This song isn't relevant to the game. It's just really good and off Tyler, The Creator's new album that came out today.
This game is all about seeing how the Cavs prepare for the playoffs. After today, the Cavs have one more game to play on Wednesday vs. the Washington Wizards. After that, the Cavs will have two full days off before the playoffs begin on Saturday. Either tonight or Wednesday, it's probably fair to expect LeBron James, Kyrie Irving, Kevin Love and other key players to get some rest.
And with Cavs coach David Blatt saying that LeBron and Co. will play tonight, it seems that Wednesday will be the rest day. Tonight's game is technically a back-to-back but it's not really because four normal starters didn't play yesterday.
It's an educated guess, but tonight might be the last night we see the Cavaliers play everyone. If we see LeBron, Irving or Love play Wednesday, it might be just a half. With seeding already decided, the Cavs have the luxury to rest players as they see fit. Tonight we should learn exactly what the plan is.
Fear The Sword's Fearless Prediction
I have no idea what to expect from this game. Everyone who didn't play Sunday is supposed to play, but we don't know for how long. To me, the most interesting part of the game is going to be oberserving Andre Drummond because I can't quite figure him out yet.
I'll say Cavs 99, Pistons 92. But that's definitely going to be really wrong.