Cavs vs. Pistons preview and gamethread
The Cavaliers face off against former head coach JB Bickerstaff and the Pistons.
The Cavaliers open up their season at home on Friday after a a 30-point win against the Toronto Raptors,
Who: Detroit Pistons at Cleveland Cavaliers
Where: Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse - Cleveland, OH
When: 7:30 p.m., Friday Oct. 25
TV: Fanduel Sports Network Ohio (previously Bally Sports), NBA League Pass
Line: Cavs -10
Expected Cavs starting lineup: Darius Garland, Donovan Mitchell, Dean Wade, Evan Mobley, Jarrett Allen.
Cavs injury report: Max Strus - OUT (ankle), Emoni Bates - OUT (knee), JT Thor - OUT (two-way), Luke Travers - OUT (two-way)
Expected Pistons starting lineup: Cade Cunningham, Jaden Ivey, Tim Hardaway Jr., Tobias Harris, Jalen Duren
Pistons injury report: Ausar Thompson OUT (illness), Bobi Klintman OUT (calf)
Fear the Sword will be hosting a live stream watch party for select games this year on Playback. Join us as we react to all the action.
What to watch for
The J.B Bickerstaff homecoming game
Bickerstaff was the man at the helm in Cleveland for the last four years. In terms of getting the Cavaliers back to a level of stability, his tenure was very much a success. The Cavaliers are hoping that this team can take another leap under Bickerstaff’s successor, Kenny Atkinson. It’ll be interesting to see how these two teams compare to each other given the different styles of both coaches.
The Pistons are fresh off of a late loss to the Indiana Pacers in which they collapsed in the fourth quarter getting outscored 19-33. It’s a one-game sample size but the Pistons appear to be very top-heavy with their contributors. All the starters scored 13+ points led by Cade Cunningham (28 points). The Pistons’ offense struggled in the halfcourt scoring 90.1 points per 100 possessions (35th percentile), tending to generate most of their quality looks in transition. However, despite these issues, you would expect if anyone knows how to attack the Cavaliers’ personnel, it would be the man coaching them just five months ago.
Evan Mobley’s encore performance
Mobley was the main takeaway of Wednesday’s game against the Raptors. It felt like the coaching staff emphasized building the offense around getting him involved early and often. Mobley came out showing his skills displayed in new facets. He was bringing the ball up off the inbound, trailing on possessions, and getting open lanes to drive, all while maintaining the defensive prowess.
Mobley finished the game with 23 points, 9 rebounds, and 3 assists. At halftime, Mobley had 17 points and it appeared that if the Raptors had a second-half push Mobley would have continued this momentum. His usage is something that stood out at 25%. Mobley often has been used in finishing situations where actions and plays have never really been centered around him other than off the short roll.
Mobley is primed for a similar showing against another small frontcourt with the Pistons.
Will the role players step up again?
Outside of Mobley’s huge performance, the role players also popped off the screen against the Raptors. Caris LeVert (19 points), Georges Niang (11 points), and Ty Jerome (14 points) were all scoring comfortably and that’s what you want to see within an offense that was cooking. The names are equally as important as the points attached to them. LeVert, Niang, and Jerome are all uneven scoring options who can boom or bust on a night-to-night basis.
The way they scored was impressive as their contributions were within a flow of the offense. Niang maybe looked his most comfortable in a Cavaliers uniform, Jerome made great plays consistently, and LeVert didn’t take his classic unnecessary misadvised shots. It won’t be like this every night, but the hope is that when they don’t have it, guys like Sam Merrill and Isaac Okoro can pick up the slack.