NBA Matchups: March 28

CLE @ DET | LAC @ BKN | CHA @ TOR | NYK @ MIL | PHX @ MIN | GSW @ NOP | UTA @ DEN

Cleveland Cavaliers (back end) at Detroit Pistons

Team Totals: Cavs 115.8, Pistons 111.3

Injury Report: Cavs on a B2B, Cade Cunningham (O, calf)

Cavs projected starters: Darius Garland, Donovan Mitchell, Max Strus, Evan Mobley, Jarrett Allen (Note: Expecting Darius Garland or Donovan Mitchell to sit, don’t know which one)

Pistons projected starters: Dennis Schroder, Tim Hardaway Jr., Ausar Thompson, Tobias Harris, Jalen Duren

Atkinson quotes: Said Okoro came in and changed the game and he led the charge on the defensive end, said Mobley protected the paint and guarded the perimeter really well, said they are a “tired group” and they need to get home, said the rebounding has been the biggest issue because of fatigue.

Bickerstaff quotes: Said they had “purposeful” defense against the Spurs, said Sasser is “a scorer by nature” and he got it going against the Spurs, said the guys are not looking at big-picture things and they’re trying to just win one game at a time, said Ausar was “attack-minded” and he defended without fouling, said when Ausar doesn’t foul he impacts winning at a high level.

Stats and Notes:

*The Cavs played last night and they have their eye on the postseason, as their chances of catching OKC for the No. 1 overall seed have diminished. The Cavs have been slipping on the defensive end, headlined by three awful defensive performances in a row last week (PHX, SAC, and LAC). There’s something to their road trip taking its toll, and they will get a tougher matchup here against a Pistons offense that has generally been solid. Even with Cleveland struggling on defense, their rim defense has been excellent, and they’ve been able to take away transition. With Cade out, it’s going to be really tough for the Pistons to generate offense. For Detroit on defense, they’re still just cruising at No. 2 on defense this month and second in 2025. These two teams are both top three in rim points allowed, so it’s going to be a perimeter-based attack from both teams. The Pistons are also the sixth-best transition defense.

*The Cavs should get Evan Mobley back, but they are likely going to sit out Darius Garland and/or Donovan Mitchell. Jarrett Allen still hasn’t missed a game and wants to play 82, but the matchup is terrible for him anyway. If Donovan does go, it’s not going to be fun with likely Ausar Thompson set to guard him. Interestingly, the Pistons put Ausar on Garland last game, but it’s almost certainly going to be Dennis Schroder on him. I like this matchup more for Garland, but of course one of them could easily rest here.

*Evan Mobley should be refreshed from a game off and his matchup isn’t all that great here. He’ll see Tobias Harris in the first unit, but his center minutes will come against Isaiah Stewart. It’s not a great spot for him, either.

*Jalen Duren was a huge part of the offense in the last two games, and he even ran two inverted PNR handler plays on Wednesday. The Pistons were clearly trying to play through him, but he ran exceptionally hot with his seven assists on five potential assists. This matchup is awful for him against an elite rim-protection defense, but expect him to have a very strong role here.

*Dennis Schroder’s minutes haven’t been all that great because Marcus Sasser has caught fire for 20- and 27-point outings. Sasser had two of the softest matchups possible in those two against the Spurs and Pelicans, but credit to him for scoring all but three of those 47 points in the halfcourt. It was almost all on-ball scoring with 32 points as an iso or PNR handler, and Sasser is just a classic scoring guard. This time he won’t have a target-practice defense, so I wouldn’t be expecting Sasser to keep it rolling. Schroder was still the lead handler in the last two games, and the Pistons may have to push his minutes up for on-ball defense. That could change if Garland or Mitchell sit this one out, though. We’ll see what the Cavs have on their injury report, and we’ll have that info on the Injury Show later.

Great matchups: Nobody

Good matchups: Darius Garland, Evan Mobley, Malik Beasley

Bad matchups: Marcus Sasser, Jalen Duren, Jarrett Allen

L.A. Clippers at Brooklyn Nets