NBA Matchups: May 5

CLE @ DET | LAL @ OKC

Cleveland Cavaliers at Detroit Pistons

Team Totals: Cavs 106.5, Pistons 108.5

Injury Report: Kevin Huerter (Q, groin)

Cavs projected starters: James Harden, Donovan Mitchell, Dean Wade, Evan Mobley, Jarrett Allen

Pistons projected starters: Cade Cunningham, Duncan Robinson, Ausar Thompson, Tobias Harris, Jalen Duren

Offensive Ranks: Cavs 8th (6th halfcourt), Pistons 10th (16th halfcourt)

Defensive Ranks: Cavs 15th (15th halfcourt), Pistons 2nd (2nd halfcourt)

Season Series: 2-2

Noteworthy Missed Games: James Harden (3; Garland only played one), Donovan Mitchell (2), Jarrett Allen (1), Jalen Duren (1), Tobias Harris (1), Isaiah Stewart (1)

Atkinson quotes: Said they showed mental toughness to get a win after the tough loss in Toronto, said they took a step forward mentally after Game 5, said so much struggling in the TOR series is good for them long term, said Allen “was absolutely incredible” and they needed someone to step up, said Allen “doubled down” on trying to be healthy enough to play more in Game 7, said cleaning up the turnovers in the second half was a key to the win, said they were making more simple passes in the second half, said Tyson was huge as “Cal Berkeley JT” for them in Game 7, said they wanted more rebounding with Wade in the first unit, said they have to handle the pressure and rebounding from the Pistons and getting it from the Raptors is a nice prep, said they liked Tyson out there to get more size, said getting Tyson out there in bigger lineups could give them options against Detroit.   

Bickerstaff quotes: Said Tobias is dependable for them, said being battle-tested in a seven-game series is great for them long term, said Duren impacts the game in so many ways and it’s not just about the stats, said Duren found himself more in space.

Team stats and notes: 

*The biggest part of this series is the unpredictable aspect of the Cavs. They appeared to be ready for a Cancun trip in the first half against the Raptors, and then just turned up the intensity to get a big win against the Raptors. Cleveland will have some similar issues in this series with the Pistons forcing the most turnovers in the league during the regular season. They’re physical, and the playoff whistle should help the Detroit defense. The Pistons also really turned it up on the boards later in the series against the Magic. Detroit also mixed up their coverages more later in the Magic series with more Duren at the level, which should make it tougher for the Cavs to generate offense through their guards (more on Duren below). Obviously, the Pistons have some excellent perimeter defensive options, and it should be much tougher for the Cavs to get easier looks. The Cavs’ defense had some issues, which were tied to them turning it over at times. They gave up the most points in transition in the first round, and Cleveland had some rebounding issues early in the Toronto series. The Pistons really locked in to limit rebounding, and of course, their paint defense is excellent.

Player stats and notes:

*Donovan Mitchell has not been stellar to start this postseason run with just a 23/5/3 line over 35.0 MPG. Credit to Ja’Kobe Walter, but it was uncharacteristic for Mitchell not to have it for the final five games of the series (just 20.0 PPG in those five). Looking at the matchups this year, it’s really tough to get a bead on how the Pistons will want to deploy Ausar Thompson. In the first game of the year, Ausar guarded Donovan, but Darius Garland was out. The last matchup with James Harden had Donovan out, too. The only game that really is noteworthy was when the Cavs had Garland and Mitchell on Jan. 4, and it was Ausar on Garland with Javonte Green on Mitchell. That was without Tobias Harris, though. With all that said, I’d still expect Ausar to guard Mitchell, making it a really tough spot. Avoiding Ausar so much this season led to a 33/5/3 line in just 31.3 MPG in two games against the Pistons. I’m not excited about Mitchell because of the Ausar matchup.

*As mentioned, I’m not too confident in how the Pistons handle the matchups at guard. I’d expect that matchup to be Tobias Harris on Harden based on Tobias guarding lead guys over the years, and Paolo Banchero was the lead handler on the Magic anyway. Harden was the lead handler in the first round at 6.9 minutes of touch time and 13.5 potential assists. Harden has been fantastic early in series, and maybe he has more on his plate because of Ausar on Donovan. It’s tough to have conviction on this matchup, and it’s certainly not favorable against one of the best defenses in the league.

*Evan Mobley’s matchup is also unclear, and we don’t have much to go on from the season (noted above). We know he’s going to see a decent bit of Jalen Duren and Isaiah Stewart because of him being the lone big for many minutes, and it’ll probably be either Cade Cunningham or Tobias on him when they go double big. This year, Mobley had some solid stats at 18/8/4 in 32.9 MPG, and that was with some unsustainable jump shooting (a 66.0 eFG% on 25 jumpers). Mobley is at his best when he can crush in the paint, and I don’t expect that to happen. That said, it was encouraging to see how the Cavs used him in the halfcourt, so I’d be open to going to Mobley here.