The Cavs made some adjustments and pulled out game 3 in the final minutes but the pressure is still all on them because a loss in game 4 would force them to win three straight to advance, and that’s not happening, especially with two games on the road.
One adjustment they made was getting the bigs more involved and playing “inside-out.”
Instead of allowing the offense to become another perimeter-heavy tug-of-war between star guards hunting difficult jumpers, Cleveland leaned into its size. The Cavs played inside-out. They trusted their bigs to touch the paint early, establish position, make the right read as decision makers, finish through contact and force Detroit’s defense to collapse inward before reacting outward. Allen and Mobley combined for 31 points on 11-of-15 shooting. - Ethan Sands
We have to [go to our bigs] more…we have to shift our offensive mentality a little bit…We’re gonna put more pressure on their rim. I know they got great rim protection. I get that. But we’re not winning this series just jacking 3’s. - KA
Most important pieces of our team. They’re huge. When we have them involved offensively and defensively, they make us go. They’re the reason we go. They’re the reason we are who we are, and they were awesome. - Max Strus on Allen and Mobley
So Key #1 in Game 4 is to go to Mobley and Allen early, get them involved, and keep them involved. But they have to do a better job of making free throws because they’re getting mugged in the paint.
Another adjustment was playing faster and taking some of the load off Mitchell and Harden so they would not be exhausted by the 4th quarter.
In Game 3, the Cavaliers strategically reconfigured their offense to reduce James Harden’s burden, dropping his usage rate from 28.1 in previous games to 19.1. Instead of carrying the heavy offensive load early, Harden adopted a traditional point guard approach, taking fewer shots and focusing on distribution in the first half. This tactical deferment, aided by Donovan Mitchell and Dennis Schroeder handling more primary ball-creation duties, allowed Harden to conserve crucial energy. Consequently, Harden was able to tap into his vintage, star-level capabilities during the fourth quarter. - podcast summary
I noticed Mobley sometimes brought the ball up and other times Strus or Schroder. That way Harden could just walk up the floor instead of being hounded the entire way by a defender trying to steal the ball or force an 8-second violation. It conserved Harden’s energy so he could still make shots in the last three minutes.
Key #2 is to give Harden and Mitchell as much rest as possible while still running an effective offense.
Another adjustment is that Sam Merrill returned and took a lot of Dean Wade’s minutes.
“Really surprised Sam played, not sure we win that game without him. He’s a big piece of our team.” - KA
There were no massive lineup overhauls or philosophical reinventions. But taken together — the shift away from Wade and Ellis, the trust placed in Merrill despite his health, the extra Schroeder minutes — they created the conditions for a Cavs win. - W&G podcast summary
Have the Cavs figured out how to beat the Pistons or was game 3 an aberration? Now that the Pistons saw what adjustments the Cavs made will they counter those adjustments and take game 4?
Kenny once again emphasized the possession game. The Cavs had 8 more points off turnovers than the Pistons in game 3. The first two games they were -19. In order to win the Cavs need to keep the points off turnovers differential positive or only slightly negative.
The Pistons have made their strategy clear.
Continue to be physical, continue to be handsy, and then just wear on you…that’s what our objective is, to fatigue you as much as we possibly can and make you play through as much contact as you possibly can…Make you feel heavy at the end of the game, try to make you play the whole game with the weight of the entire Pistons team on your shoulders. - JBB
We’ll see how (the Cavs) feel. We know it’s a war, not just one battle…just continuing to play our brand of basketball and seeing if they’re able to withstand that. - Cade Cunningham
JBB said the Pistons play the entire game using as much “legal contact” as possible. A lot of times they go beyond legal contact; the Pistons led the NBA in fouls per game in the regular season. They don’t mind fouling if it “wears on you.”
Cunningham all but issued a manhood challenge to the Cavs, saying it’s a “war” and we’ll see “if they’re able to withstand [our brand of basketball].” The Pistons are going to beat up the Cavs all game and see if they break.
It will be interesting to see how physical the refs allow the Pistons to be. They don’t want to constantly interrupt the flow with whistles and turn the game into a free throw contest with star players off the floor, but do fans really appreciate a wrestling match? Or would they rather see more movement and “beautiful basketball”?
Kenny said the Pistons still feel as if they are in command of this series and “we need to change that narrative.” He also said, “We have to do better.” He didn’t say we got this figured out. He said the Cavs need to be better in order to win.
The encouraging thing is the Cavs didn’t play all that great in game 3. The Pistons had 17 offensive rebounds to the Cavs’ 5. The Pistons took 91 shots to the Cavs 74. If you told me before the game that the Pistons would take 17 more field goal attempts than the Cavs I’d have said there’s no way the Cavs win.
If the Cavs can minimize points off turnovers, reduce the Pistons’ offensive rebounds, and continue to take some of the load off Harden and Mitchell, they have a solid chance to even the series. They also need to race the ball up the floor and create early scoring opportunities. Kenny said, “A half-court battle is not in our favor.”
Injury Report
CLEVELAND
none
DETROIT
Caris LeVert - QUESTIONABLE (heel)
Kevin Huerter - QUESTIONABLE (hamstring)
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