Cavs vs. Pistons preview and gamethread
The Cavs don’t have to wait too long before seeing Bickerstaff again.
The Cavs are expected to play all of their healthy players in their penultimate preseason game.
Who: Cleveland Cavaliers at Detroit Pistons
Where: Little Caesars Arena - Detroit, MI
When: 7 p.m., Wednesday, Oct. 16
TV: Bally Sports Ohio, NBA TV
Cavs injury report: Max Strus - OUT (hip), Sam Merrill - OUT (wrist), Emoni Bates - OUT (knee)
Fear the Sword will be hosting a stream for select games this year starting with Wednesday’s game against the Pistons on Playback. Join me and Tony Pesta for the action as we react in real time to what is happening in the game.
What to watch for
J.B. Bickerstaff on the other sideline
It’s probably better for Bickerstaff and the Cavs that they’re able to get through their awkward first meeting early in the year. They face off here in the preseason and then again next Friday for the Cavaliers’ home opener. Hopefully, this will help both sides move on from the breakup.
The Pistons are in a weird spot as a franchise. They have talent, but it doesn’t necessarily fit together and the culture has been bad for years. It could be an uphill battle for Bickerstaff. But, the same thing could’ve been said about the Cavaliers when he took over in 2020.
How the core four plays
The core four have only played 19 minutes together this preseason. Considering how different head coach Kenny Atkinson wants the offense to look, it’s important to see them all on the floor at the same time. We should get another glimpse of how exactly this all looks.
Preseason pace
Teams play unsustainably fast in the preseason. The limited minutes and the fresh points of emphasis from camp lead to this. While that will likely happen again for the Cavs, you’d like to see how organized the offense can be when they’re playing at a faster rate. Does it look cohesive? Are they playing with a purpose?
Again, we won’t get answers to all the questions in the preseason. But you do want to see glimpses of how things could look when the games start to count. We should get that with this game.