Cavaliers at Pistons
The Cleveland Cavaliers are moving the ball and pushing the pace under new coach Tyronn Lue, but the competition has left a little to be desired. The Cavaliers will take a step up in competition and try to earn a third straight win when they visit the Detroit Pistons on Friday.
Cleveland fell to the Chicago Bulls in Lue’s head coaching debut but averaged 114.5 points in running Western Conference pushovers Minnesota and Phoenix off the floor in the last two games while adapting to changes to the system. “Everything (Lue) preaches we want to try to execute,” Cavaliers star LeBron James told reporters. “It’s not rocket science. What he tells us, we got to do. He’s the head coach and we got to go out and execute that to the best of our abilities.” The Pistons are taking their own step up in competition following back-to-back wins over the Utah Jazz and Philadelphia 76ers. Detroit will test itself against the top two teams in the Eastern Conference with a trip to Toronto scheduled after the date with Cleveland.
TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, FSN Ohio (Cleveland), FSN Detroit
ABOUT THE CAVALIERS (32-12): Cleveland recorded a season-high 34 assists in Wednesday’s 115-93 win over the Suns, with James handing out a team-high nine. The superstar forward took only eight shots in the game but hit seven en route to 21 points and is on board with Lue’s philosophy. “It was a very efficient night for myself, but the ball was moving and it doesn’t matter who is shooting or taking shots,” James told reporters. “It’s about how we’re getting the ball moving from side to side and do we feel involved and feel comfortable.”
ABOUT THE PISTONS (25-21): Center Andre Drummond bounced back from a pair of sub-par performances by collecting 25 points and 18 rebounds in Wednesday’s 110-97 win over Philadelphia. Drummond made the strategy to foul him look foolish by going 7-of-12 from the free-throw line after a combined 1-of-14 effort in the previous two contests. “It was great to see him knock down those free throws and make the 76ers reluctant to guard him and do the ‘Hack-A-Dre’ (Wednesday),” Detroit guard Reggie Jackson told reporters. “I talked to him (Tuesday and) he definitely put in a lot of work, so it’s good to see him make clutch free throws throughout the game.”
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Pistons G Brandon Jennings totaled two points on 0-of-8 shooting in the last two games.
2. James is 18-of-23 from the floor in the last two contests.
3. Drummond recorded 25 points and 18 boards and went 5-of-9 from the line in a 104-99 home win over Cleveland on Nov. 17.