Cavs hit another low after brutal loss to Pistons
The Cleveland Cavaliers had every reason to be confident heading into Tuesday's matchup against the Detroit Pistons, who entered the game on an eight-game losing skid that included a 17-point loss to Cleveland two nights earlier.
Detroit's blockbuster trade with the Los Angeles Clippers had just gone through, meaning Blake Griffin, Willie Reed, and Brice Johnson weren't yet available. It seemed they once again wouldn't have the firepower to keep up with the reigning East champs. If they were going to pull off the victory, they needed huge outings from the likes of Anthony Tolliver, Reggie Bullock, and Stanley Johnson.
The biggest issue plaguing this Cavaliers team is their defense, and when you work that end of the floor as poorly as they do, there's really no such thing as a surefire win.
Cleveland took a major shot in the gut minutes into Tuesday's game by losing Kevin Love to a broken hand. But even factoring in his absence, giving up 125 points to a lesser version of the Pistons than the one they faced over the weekend is undoubtedly one of their lowest moments of the 2017-18 campaign.
Tolliver hadn't scored 20 or more points since 2013-14, but he's had 20 in each of the last two games against Cleveland. Bullock matched his career high with 22 points and four makes behind the arc, while Johnson led all scorers with a career-best 26 points.
This is the same Johnson who's shooting just 35.1 percent from the field on the season, yet converted a respectable 10-of-21 in 40 minutes on Tuesday.
LeBron James didn't score a single point in the fourth quarter. Isaiah Thomas had twice as many turnovers (six) as he did field goals (three), with 12 of his 19 points in 33 minutes coming at the charity stripe. J.R. Smith went 0-of-4 from 3-point range and scored four or fewer points for the 16th time this season.
(Photo courtesy: Action Images)
The Cavs can't even blame Love's injury. Channing Frye stepped up coming off the bench to contribute a season-high 20 points in 21 minutes, and it's not like Love was going to lock anyone down on defense had he stayed healthy. Cleveland actually gives up 4.7 fewer points per 100 possessions when he's not on the floor.
Whether it was points off turnovers (18 to 7), fastbreak points (27 to 6) or points in the paint (68-38), the Pistons were determined to outplay, outhustle, and outperform a Cavs squad that no doubt took them lightly, and might have been emotionally spent after watching Love head to the locker room.
The Cavaliers once again have the Association's worst defense (109.8 points allowed per 100 possessions), tied with the Phoenix Suns and 0.1 points worse than the Sacramento Kings.
Not having Love for the next six-to-eight weeks is demoralizing enough, but with Thomas struggling and the team's starting shooting guard providing next to nothing in the way of positive production, the worst may be yet to come.