The Cleveland Cavaliers will travel a few hours north to the Motor City and take on the Detroit Pistons, another divisional opponent with playoff aspirations.
Who: Cleveland Cavaliers (2-1) at Detroit Pistons
(2-1)
Where: Little Caesars Arena – Detroit, Michigan
When: Monday, Oct. 27 at 7:00pm EST
TV: Peacock
Line: Cavs -2.5
Cavs Injury Report: Not Yet Available
Pistons Injury Report: Not Yet Available
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What to watch for
After a hard-fought effort against Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks, the Cavs will have to turn around on the second night of a back-to-back and take on another expected playoff team.
Ironing things out
The Cavs have had three uneven performances so far this season. They looked clunky on offensive in the first game, only to mount a huge comeback before ultimately falling apart down the stretch. In the second game against a very inferior Brooklyn Nets team, the Cavs squandered an enormous lead but found a way to win. Last night’s game against Milwaukee was perhaps their most complete game, a near wire-to-wire victory.
Tonight’s game against Detroit will be another challenge, but it looks like the Cavs are starting to figure some things out. De’Andre Hunter’s return to the lineup pushed Jaylon Tyson back to the bench, which was helpful. The Tyrese Proctor experiment may be winding down for now, as he lost all of his playing time to Craig Porter — who had a good 16 minutes of action. Evan Mobley stepped up and knocked down some big free throws to ice the win, which was good to see.
Sam is money
It isn’t getting big attention, but Sam Merrill has been very good three games in a row. He was a game-high +17 last night to the tune of 17 points on 5-11 shooting and 4-9 from deep in 30 minutes of action. In fact, that 17 point effort was Merrill’s lowest scoring output of the season but his best overall performance in terms of plus/minus.
In place of Darius Garland, Merrill has played exceptionally well. They will need another performance like last night against a pretty stout Pistons defense that has good wing depth.
Jarrett Allen against a playoff team
Speaking of uneven performances, it’s time to bring up Jarrett Allen. After a terrible game against an expected playoff team in New York, he rebounded with an excellent performance against the woeful Nets. Last night against the Bucks, Allen had another quiet game with eight points and 11 rebounds.
That is one good performance, one terrible performance, and one “meh” performance in three games. The Pistons are going to be a playoff team this season and have a tough front court with Jalen Duren and Isaiah Stewart, both physical players who are not afraid of their matchup. Allen will need to match that physicality and set the tone that he will not back down.
