The Cavaliers won the Battle for the Seventh. They are now slotted at the 7th spot in the draft lottery, which is a good thing because it gives them a better chance at an awesome player. Unfortunately, we might have to get used to watching Cleveland get pounded in games like this one. They lost their 5th straight game, this time falling to the Pistons by a score of 87-75.
Cavs Leaders: Points: Irving, 22; Rebounds: Thompson, 11; Assists: Irving, 6
Quick Thoughts:
Five losses in a row, five games that I haven't ripped my eyes out. That's pretty solid if you ask me. Here's my positive note from this game: Tristan Thompson and the rest of the Cavaliers front court played some nice defense on Greg Monroe. Monroe is easily the Pistons' best player and he was held to 4-13 shooting for just 8 points. Nicely done.
Now, let's talk about all of the horrible things that happened in this game. As a team, the Cavs shot under 35% from the field. Do you realize how bad that is? They scored just 75 points on one of the worst defensive teams in the league. Kyrie Irving played relatively well, although it seemed like a pretty quiet 22 points. He shot 9-19 from the field, grabbed 9 rebounds and dished out 6 assists. Unfortunately, he also committed 5 turnovers, some of which were pretty careless. He's clearly going to be the player of the game, but he didn't play particularly well. Or maybe my standards have just gotten too high for a rookie point guard.
Antawn Jamison continued to be horrible. Although, maybe he's just thinking big picture and is on board with the tanking idea. 17 points on 7-21 shooting is truly bad. Also, he played poor defense and refused to box anyone out. At least he supplies veteran leadership though.
I'm not 100% sure why Anthony Parker plays 30+ minutes while Manny Harris plays roughly 15 minutes per game. It doesn't make sense to me. Maybe somebody can explain that to me.
Luke Walton got off the bench before Omri Casspi did. Take that for what it's worth. Furthermore, in 11 minutes of play, he compiled no stats other than 2 turnovers and 2 fouls. Impressive.
Thompson and Gee are consistently improving as defenders, but they're getting worse at shooting, somehow. I'm not too concerned about it right now, but it wasn't good. Tristan did managed to grab 11 rebounds, 5 of which were offensive. That's a good thing.
Tayshaun Prince turned back the clock and destroyed Cleveland. 29 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists. It was odd.
Jason Maxiell demolished the rim on a couple of dunks. It was impressive. Tristan needs to do that.
Fear The Sword's Player Of The Game:
Kyrie Irving, but you already know.