You knew this game would be tough to win, with the Cavaliers starting backcourt out with injuries and the Pistons playing good basketball as of late. For a while, that’s exactly what happened, with the Cavaliers falling behind by 20 points in the first half and trailing by 17 at the half.
In the 4th quarter, the Cavaliers made a good effort to try to get back into this one. With 4 minutes left in the 3rd quarter, the Cavaliers were down 71-51. With 2 minutes to go, the Cavaliers had closed the gap all the way to 6 points at 85-79. In the end, though, it was just too little, too late, as the Pistons regained their edge to hang on for the 10 point win.
Anderson Varejao did what Anderson Varejao does with another workman-like 17 point, 18 rebound night (9 offensive rebounds). The Cavaliers just didn’t have enough offensive firepower with both Kyrie Irving and Dion Waiters out with injuries. Brandon Knight led the Pistons with 17 points.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T | |
| CLE | 17 | 22 | 24 | 16 | 79 |
| DET | 30 | 26 | 19 | 14 | 89 |
Cleveland
| Starters | Pos | Min | FG | 3Pt | FT | +/- | Off | Reb | Ast | TO | Stl | BS | BA | PF | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A. Gee | G | 29:44 | 2-10 | 0-3 | 2-2 | -5 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 6 |
| J. Pargo | G | 29:39 | 4-13 | 0-2 | 2-4 | -11 | 2 | 4 | 8 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 10 |
| A. Varejao | C | 39:29 | 7-18 | 0-1 | 3-6 | -4 | 9 | 18 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 17 |
| T. Thompson | F | 32:33 | 4-13 | 0-0 | 2-2 | -8 | 5 | 11 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 10 |
| O. Casspi | F | 28:12 | 4-11 | 2-5 | 0-0 | -9 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 10 |
| Bench | Min | FG | 3Pt | FT | +/- | Off | Reb | Ast | TO | Stl | BS | BA | PF | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Totals | 32-95 | 3-20 | 12-17 | 20 | 53 | 19 | 11 | 7 | 5 | 13 | 20 | 79 | ||
| Percentages | .337 | .150 | .706 | Team Rebounds: 11 | ||||||||||
| D. Gibson | 28:42 | 1-6 | 1-6 | 0-0 | +3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| T. Zeller | 20:10 | 4-8 | 0-0 | 0-0 | -5 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 8 |
| D. Sloan | 18:21 | 3-8 | 0-1 | 1-1 | +1 | 1 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 7 |
| C.J. Miles | 9:22 | 3-6 | 0-2 | 2-2 | -9 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 8 |
| S. Samuels | 3:48 | 0-2 | 0-0 | 0-0 | -3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| K. Irving | DNP – Coach’s Decision | |||||||||||||
| J. Leuer | DNP – Coach’s Decision | |||||||||||||
| L. Walton | DNP – Coach’s Decision | |||||||||||||
Detroit
| Starters | Pos | Min | FG | 3Pt | FT | +/- | Off | Reb | Ast | TO | Stl | BS | BA | PF | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| B. Knight | G | 33:45 | 5-13 | 0-4 | 7-7 | +9 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 17 |
| K. Singler | G | 33:08 | 6-14 | 3-6 | 0-0 | +14 | 2 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 15 |
| G. Monroe | C | 35:38 | 4-10 | 0-0 | 1-3 | +9 | 4 | 14 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 9 |
| T. Prince | F | 33:55 | 6-10 | 1-2 | 2-2 | +6 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 15 |
| J. Maxiell | F | 28:10 | 6-12 | 0-0 | 0-0 | +10 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 12 |
| Bench | Min | FG | 3Pt | FT | +/- | Off | Reb | Ast | TO | Stl | BS | BA | PF | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Totals | 36-84 | 4-18 | 13-19 | 15 | 49 | 21 | 11 | 6 | 13 | 5 | 16 | 89 | ||
| Percentages | .429 | .222 | .684 | Team Rebounds: 9 | ||||||||||
| R. Stuckey | 27:16 | 4-9 | 0-2 | 0-1 | -3 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 8 |
| A. Drummond | 19:31 | 3-8 | 0-0 | 1-4 | -1 | 9 | 12 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 7 |
| C. Maggette | 15:56 | 1-2 | 0-0 | 2-2 | +4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 |
| C. Villanueva | 12:41 | 1-6 | 0-4 | 0-0 | +2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| W. Bynum | DNP – Coach’s Decision | |||||||||||||
| A. Daye | DNP – Coach’s Decision | |||||||||||||
| K. English | DNP – Coach’s Decision | |||||||||||||
| J. Jerebko | DNP – Coach’s Decision | |||||||||||||
