The Cleveland Cavaliers looked like they were on the verge of losing their first game since the All-Star break against the Detroit Pistons on Tuesday night, but Kevin Love helped rally the team from a double-digit deficit in the second half, beating the Pistons, 102-93.
“I thought Kevin played another terrific game,” Cavs head coach David Blatt said.
The Cavaliers, who finished off a three-game road trip on Tuesday night, have now won 17 of their last 19 games.
Love scored 24 points on 8-of-15 shooting, all of his makes coming from three-point range. The eight made three-pointers fell one short of the record against the Pistons, which is held by Love’s teammate, J.R. Smith who accomplished the feat in March of 2011 while with the Denver Nuggets.
“Kev had it going,” LeBron James said. “We found a set that was working and wanted to continue to go to it.”
The Pistons used a second quarter flurry to increase the lead to nine points at the half, outscoring Cleveland, 35-23, in the quarter. It’s the first time the Cavaliers have allowed an opponent to score at least 30 points in a quarter since the loss against Chicago, the final contest before the All-Star break.
Detroit increased the lead to 14 early in the third quarter, their largest of the game, but the Cavs immediately went on a 20-3 run in under five minutes to retake the lead, and never looked back. Love scored 12 of the 20 points during the spurt.
“You just have to have a good rhythm and I felt I had that tonight, at least from the outside,” Love said.
The Cavs also cranked up the defensive intensity, disrupting the Pistons, who shot nearly 49 percent in the first half. After scoring 62 points in the first 24 minutes, Detroit was held to just 31 in the second half. The Pistons finished at 40 percent from the field, including 12-of-39 (31 percent) in the second half.
“Defense is our mark,” James said. “We understand that. We defend at a high level we’re going to put ourselves in a position to be successful every night, and long term.”
James added 19 points on 6-of-14 shooting to go along with a team-high 11 assists and seven rebounds. Timofey Mozgov, who dealt with foul trouble in the first half, scored 14 points and grabbed six rebounds in 21 minutes. Kyrie Irving chipped in with 18 points on 6-of-16 shooting.
Reggie Jackson, playing in his second game with Detroit, scored a team-high 22 points to go with nine assists and eight rebounds.
The Cavs improved their record to 36-22 while the Pistons fell to 23-34.
Click here to read more of this story.
About Marion Online Sports
