NBA Matchups: May 15

DET @ CLE | MIN @ SAS

Detroit Pistons at Cleveland Cavaliers

Team Totals: Pistons 103, Cavs 107.5

Injury Report: Duncan Robinson (Q, back), Caris LeVert (Q, heel), 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)

Atkinson quotes: Said they just made big plays and had great leadership from Mobley, Harden, and Mitchell, said they hope this game can galvanize them, said Harden remains calm the whole time and that helps the team, said it’s “kind of a must-win game” for them, said Max Strus’ steal was the game-winning play, said they are trying to get Harden off the ball more and they like Mobley more in inverted PNR, said he didn’t want to call a TO late because he didn’t want the Pistons to get their defense set, said Max “is a nasty character” and Harden “is tough as nails,” said the big 9-0 stress was because of “No. 4 Evan Mobley” and Strus made some big plays late, too.

Bickerstaff quotes: Said they slowed down too much late and the Cavs doubled Cade, said it’s clear that Allen fouled Ausar “and that’s tough,” said Paul Reed is a “run stopper” and he went to him to start the fourth following the CLE run, said the Cavs really tried to take Cade out and “we got our spots” to play out of that, said Sasser “is not afraid of the moment” to fill in some minutes.

Stats and notes:

*J.B. Bickerstaff had one of the worst coaching games of the postseason with some odd subs and just a bad game plan. The two things that were the most indefensible were using your last TO to get Jalen Duren in there to rebound an Evan Mobley FTA and not using Paul Reed until the fourth quarter. Bonkers. The Pistons had this game with a 9-point lead with 2:37 left. Detroit failed to score at all as the Cavs pulled off the 9-0 run to force overtime. The Cavs really turned up their pressure, realizing that the Pistons just don’t have great options for halfcourt offense. The Pistons were able to grind so many edges with more points off turnovers (27-16) and fast-break points (23-7), and the Cavs had more points in the paint. Detroit built a 15-point lead and led for 69% of this game. The Cavs just killed them at the line again with a 38-20 edge, and that’s been a huge trend that’s helped the Cavs possibly close this out. The other trend for Cleveland is how much better they are at home offensively. They have a 120.4 O rating at home (106.7 on the road), they don’t turn it over as much, and they shoot their 3-pointers way better at home (38.2% vs. 30.3%). The Cavs also found some of their offense later in Game 5, as they were able to adjust to Duncan Robinson being out (they liked to hunt him in Games 1-4). There’s something to this Cavs team at home, and the Pistons are in trouble.

*Cade Cunningham had a masterpiece of a game with 39 points, even with the pressure the Cavs put on him. Cade faced Shai Gilgeous-Alexander-Lakers-esque pressure with two on him at halfcourt, and he still managed to get enough good looks. A big reason why was his C&S game, with a third of his makes coming off assists (5-of-8 on C&S treys). Cunningham did turn it over six times, and that’s been a problem. Tough scheme aside, I’d still expect a massive game from Cade.

*This is one of the most baffling months for a player I’ve seen. Jalen Duren has been awful for a month, and he hasn’t made an impact. He was -16, and he’s just getting clowned by Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen. If the Pistons didn’t care about Duren after today, there’s no way he would start. That’s not the world we live in, though. I’d expect Duren to start and lose another game for the Pistons again.

*Tobias Harris had another dud in Game 5 with a 6-of-19 shooting line (6-of-17 in Game 4). His jumper has failed him in the last two at 8-of-26 (30.8%, 36.5 eFG%). Tobias got to the basket a bit more in Game 5 with five layups, and there’s just no way he can’t get heavy minutes here. It’s not that great that it’s been Mobley on him more in the last two, so I’m not too excited about him (especially at his big DFS price).