Detroit — No, it wasn’t a replay. But as the Pistons stomped through Game 2, it looked astonishingly, suffocatingly similar.
The Pistons chased the Cavaliers all over the floor, grabbing at the ball as if it was gold. The Cavs looked haunted by the hunt, and if the Pistons are going to keep this up — clamp-down defense, downtown shooting, relentless energy — this series is theirs for the taking, by force.
The Pistons beat Cleveland in almost the exact same way, by the exact same margin, powering to a 107-97 victory Thursday night at Little Caesars Arena to take a 2-0 lead. Game 3 is Saturday in Cleveland, where the Cavs will try something different, presumably.
After the wild swings in the seven-game victory over Orlando, dare I say the Pistons are making this impressively monotonous. They again took a big lead, again weathered a brief comeback, again hit practically every key shot. Cade Cunningham took his time, and when the moment arrived, he met it, drilling a 3-pointer with 2:12 left to quell any threat, 101-92.
Of all the Pistons’ shifting duties, one doesn’t change, the one handled by Clutch Cade. He had five points in the first half and erupted for 20 in the second half, 12 in the fourth quarter. Cunningham is the stealthy closer, and for the most part, the Pistons’ defense does the setup work, then the cleanup work.
“We have to stay true to our identity, continue to be physical, continue to be handsy, and just wear on you,” J.B. Bickerstaff said. “That’s what our objective is, to fatigue you as much as we possibly can. And make you play through as much legal contact as we can.”
Bickerstaff has offered virtually that same explanation after almost victory. It doesn’t vary because the Pistons don’t vary, other than occasional personnel shifts.
Their defense tossed another net on Cleveland’s duo of Donovan Mitchell and James Harden. The Cavs were 0-for-11 on 3s in the fourth quarter, 7-for-32 in the game. Mitchell scored 31 points but was 2-for-9 from deep. Harden finished with 10 points, 0-for-4 from 3, and had more turnovers (four) than baskets (three).
What the Pistons are doing is ruthless and redundant, now with five straight playoff victories. They had an 18-point lead in the opener against Cleveland and a 14-point lead in this, and won each by 10. They even had another long buzzer-beater, this one at the end of the third quarter by Daniss Jenkins, who had 14 points, six rebounds and more pestering defense.
Jenkins has gone from unknown to irreplaceable, from tentative playoff novice to dynamic disrupter.
“You can’t simulate the playoffs, and this is my first time going through it,” said Jenkins, who has 26 points in two games. “I knew I wasn’t gonna be scared, but I just had to adjust to the intensity, the atmosphere, the physicality. Early on, I was pressing too much. I just had to relax and go play.”
Once they erased that 3-1 deficit against Orlando, they’ve played as if freed, fazed by nothing. Stop me if you’ve heard this already.
Duncan Robinson? The 3-point marksman keeps slipping open, or zipping to the basket, while playing pesky defense. He scored 17 points and shot 5-for-9 from 3, and is 10-for-17 from long-range in the series.
Tobias Harris? Another smooth 21 points, his seventh straight game of 20-plus. Much like Jenkins, Harris has become a dependable, even lethal, scorer.
“It’s confidence, there’s no insecurity in who he is,” Bickerstaff said of Harris. “And when you don’t have those insecurities, you can play free and trust the work you’ve put in. He knows his game, right? There are so many guys that think dribble, dribble, dribble, dribble, dribble is the game, right? And Tobias knows he’s going to get you in the post, he might back you down, he might face you up, but he’s gonna get to the same spot and rise up and knock it down.”
Same spot, same shot. When the Cavs took their first lead at 81-79, Harris immediately glided to his favorite spot on the baseline and dropped in a 12-foot jumper, sending the LCA crowd into the loudest frenzy of the night.
Game 2 is the first pivotal point of any series and the Pistons made the strongest point yet. They controlled it from the start, harassing the Cavs everywhere, forcing four turnovers in the first four minutes.
When Jenkins, the newly minted key cog, dropped in a floater, the Pistons led 25-14 and the Cavs’ offense was a mess again. Just like in the opener, Harris was getting easily to the basket, looking 23 years old instead of 33. At halftime, the Pistons led 54-43. At halftime of Game 1, they led 59-46.
This didn’t look much different, at all. Cunningham was being hounded, forced into a facilitator role, one he’s comfortable doing. He finished the first half with six assists and only five points, setting up (saving up?) for the grand finish.
The Pistons got contributions from multiple players, as they generally do. The Cavs kept waiting for Mitchell and Harden to take over, as they often do. The All-Star duo shot a combined 0-for-6 on 3s in the first half, but Pistons defensive whiz Ausar Thompson was in foul trouble and the Cavs weren’t going away.
Mitchell, in particular, seemed anxious to ramp it up. He’d complained after Game 1 about the free-throw disparity — the Pistons shot 35 to Cleveland’s 16. Mitchell affixed his finest passive-aggressive face and suggested he wasn’t getting calls because he wasn’t play-acting with flops.
More logically, the Cavs were too content shooting from the perimeter and lofting soft floaters in the lane. Between games, Bickerstaff wasn’t buying it, or biting on it. He figured it was another case of an opponent frustrated by the Pistons’ crew of fierce defenders.
Mitchell’s tune was different after watching Harden struggle to even get shots off in this one.
“Honestly, he just needs to continue to be in attack mode,” Mitchell said. “He’s James Harden. We’re not sitting here worried; he’s going to figure this out and we have to do a better job around him as well.”
The Pistons are making it so hard on the Cavs, they have a chance to break them in Game 3. If they bring this effort from all these angles and grab a 3-0 lead, it’s over. The Cavs likely will have a stronger response at home, as they should. The thing is, when the Pistons are being the Pistons, it might not matter.
“We learned a lot from the last series, going down 3-1,” Cunningham said. “You realize how long a playoff series can be; it’s a war moreso than just a battle. It taught us how fragile and how thin the line is between winning and losing. Up 2-0, we know it’s a thin line still.”
In the playoff heat, any line can be crossed at any time. But the Pistons now have a pattern to match their identity, a response for every counter-response. In winning five straight, they seem to be getting stronger. Nothing is settled yet, but the Cavs look a bit bewildered. And the Pistons look like a team following a path and a plan, knowing where it’s going, refusing to bend or buckle.
Bob.wojnowski@detroitnews.com
@bobwojnowski
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Wojo: Relentless Pistons stick to the sticky script, smother Cavs for 2-0 lead
Reporting by Bob Wojnowski, The Detroit News / The Detroit News
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