The Cavaliers have made many mistakes on defense this season, but Tristan Thompson committed a season first that led to the Detroit Pistons’ 111-104 victory over the Cavaliers on Wednesday night at The Q.
“I guess it’s my fault,” Thompson said after the Cavs lost their second straight to fall to 24-54.
Kyrie Irving finished with 27 points and nine assists, and rookie Dion Waiters had 11 points in his first game back after missing 10 with a sore left knee. Thompson added 19 points and eight rebounds, but it was his defensive miscue that will be remembered.
The Cavs were trailing, 105-103, when Irving missed a 3-pointer. Pistons rookie Andre Drummond grabbed the rebound with 20.8 seconds left, and while Thompson insisted he fouled Drummond at that point, the referees didn’t call a foul until 17.1 seconds were left, by which time Drummond had gotten rid of the ball.
Big problem. Because Drummond didn’t have the ball, and because less than two minutes remained, the Pistons got two free throws and the ball. Not only that, but they got to pick who would shoot the free throws. Coach Lawrence Frank opted for Rodney Stuckey, a 79 percent shooter, in place of Drummond, a 34 percent shooter.
Stuckey made one of two free throws, and Jonas Jerebko made one of two on the ensuing possession to put Detroit up, 107-103, with 16.8 seconds left. From there, a parade of free throws settled the issue.
Thompson stood his ground.
“I tried to grab him right away so they see it’s a bloody foul,” he said. “But they didn’t call it until after. Maybe I should have been louder or told them ahead of time, ‘If he gets the rebound I’m going to foul.’ It happens. It’s part of the game.”
Cavs coach Byron Scott saw it differently.
“I didn’t think [Drummond] had the ball,” Scott said. “I thought they were dribbling up the court when [Thompson] fouled him and we’re trying to yell, ‘Foul the guy with the ball.’ Young rookie, second-year player mistake . . . He was thinking right, it was just way too late.”
Drummond made 10 of 11 field goals and finished with 29 points and 11 rebounds. He made making 9 of 17 free throws in spite of Scott’s hack-a-Drummond strategy, which slowed things considerably down the stretch.
Scott said he decided Wednesday morning to try the strategy to shake things up against the Pistons. Unfortunately for the Cavs, the one time they didn’t use it late in the game, the Pistons found Will Bynum in the corner for a 3-pointer that put Detroit up, 98-97, with 2:48 left.
“Good play,” Scott said. “They kicked it out. We got too far in the paint, and Will hit a big shot for them.”
It might have been the only time the Cavs wound up in the paint. Detroit, which averages 45.9 points in the paint per game (tops in the Eastern Conference, third in the league) had 60 points there Wednesday and owned a 49-33 edge on the boards, including a 13-5 edge on the offensive end.
In spite of that, it was a two-point game until 17 seconds remained.
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