Cleveland Cavaliers at Detroit Pistons: No Reinforcements Yet

As the Cavaliers head to Detroit they're still without Anderson Varejao, Kyrie Irving and Daniel Gibson. That's not a horrible thing though as they're desperately trying to do the difficult double of passing the Sacramento Kings and New Orleans Hornets in the standings to earn more lottery balls.

Song of the Day: Coffee Eyes - The Wonder Years

Tonight's Overview:

Cleveland Cavaliers (20-39) at Detroit Pistons (22-38)

With a victory here putting the Cavaliers in very serious danger of catching the Pistons I'm certainly hopeful that Detroit can do what they're supposed to here and win at home.

The Pistons have struggled mightily in their most recent games with the only solid result being a victory over league worst Charlotte.

Some spots where the Cavaliers can do damage against Detroit is on the boards and around the rim. The Pistons are very poor on the glass, especially on the defensive end. They also aren't too hot at defending the paint and blocking shots.

I find Detroit's future pretty awful due to the Ben Gordon and Charlie Villanueva deals. They are both barely playable but were given monster contracts in the summer of 2009. It just goes to show that teams like Detroit and Cleveland have to do some crazy and desperate things to lure talent to the north in free agency.

Key Matchup:

Tristan Thompson vs. Greg Monroe

The one big time bright spot for the Pistons is Greg Monroe. The big lefty is someone who I would've loved for the Cavaliers to have gotten their hands on in the draft as he truly is solid to above average at just about everything. I'm a fan of guys who aren't exactly Serge Ibaka type athletes but still can find a way to be this talented. Monroe is definitely an old school skilled big.

Again, the one area where he may struggle covering Thompson is the offensive glass.

Fear the Sword's Fearless Prediction:

I think this one is going to be really tight as Detroit has struggled of late. In the end, the home team wins 96-93.