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DETROIT — The Cleveland Cavaliers had numerous chances to win Friday’s game against the Detroit Pistons, even though they were without four rotation players, including James Harden (finger) and Donovan Mitchell (groin). They couldn’t make the one play they needed to seal the victory. As a result, they fell 122-119 in overtime.
Head coach Kenny Atkinson believes in luck. He was asked before the game if his team was cursed given their latest rash of injuries.
He laughed the question off, but then proceeded to provide the perfect table setter for one of the wildest games of the season.
“I believe in luck,” Atkinson said before the game. “I think luck plays more into this whole thing in sports. I know in America, we don’t like to talk about luck, like you earn it, you win it. That was a good thing about being overseas for so long. I was shocked when I first went out there, especially in Spain, they talked about luck so much. … When you read the sports papers, it was part of the way they talked. … Here, we want right and wrong and clear yes and no. That’s kind of how our mentality is. So I definitely think luck plays a lot into this.”
The Cavs lost this game, so we’re programmed to see things in the worst possible light. Instead of viewing the areas that the Cavs did right, we automatically look at what didn’t go their way, and there’s a long list of those things.
Poor rebounding, inability to create offense late, turnovers, and blowing multiple chances to defeat the top team in the conference are a few that come to mind. All of these are problems that could be explored deeper, considering they’re things that could be an issue in a possible playoff series.
However, if a few calls go slightly differently, we’re likely looking at all the things that went right, such as Jarrett Allen’s dominance, Evan Mobley’s resurgence, and the role players stepping up.
This is a results-based business, but sometimes, the results come down to things far outside of the player’s control.
That said, we’ll start with the bad.
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Cleveland should’ve won this game.
They were up six with two minutes left when MVP candidate Cade Cunningham fouled out of this game. That should’ve been the final nail in the coffin, but the Cavs failed to execute from there.
In the final two minutes, they turned it over in the backcourt, allowed baskets on Detroit’s final eight possessions in regulation, Evan Mobley missed a free throw with seven seconds left that would’ve made it a two-possession game, and they didn’t properly commit a foul on the floor while up three, which led to the game-tying free throws.
It was a litany of errors from a team that has blown more than a few important games in this embarrassing way in the past.
“That was our game to take,” Jaylon Tyson said. “We were definitely there. We should have won that game. Yeah, we should have won that game.”
Overtime presented its own issues.
The Cavs struggled to generate offense after Allen fouled out, but they still had chances to win. They were on the wrong side of a few calls (and weren’t afraid to make that known in the locker room afterward), including what could’ve been easily called a shooting foul on a potential game-tying Sam Merrill three-point attempt.
Even so, they kept fighting, forced a jump ball when providing defensive pressure in the backcourt, and created what would’ve been a game-tying three-point attempt for Mobley that didn’t go.
“There’s no moral victories,” Atkinson said. “This was a big game. We had chances. … The execution, turnovers, you know, we’re just kind of kicking ourselves.”
Still, there are things that the Cavs should feel encouraged about if they happen to play the Pistons in the postseason, the most important being Allen’s continued dominant play.
Allen once again couldn’t be stopped, scoring 25 points on 10-12 shooting to go along with nine rebounds, four assists, and a block.
“Jalen Duran is one of the toughest, strongest guys in the league,” Atkinson said. “He went toe to toe with him. And I just love [it]. … We just got to keep him there. You know, it’s our job as coaches to keep him in this great, great space. But I loved his energy tonight.”
It’s easier to keep Allen in check when he doesn’t have the benefit of playing alongside dynamic guards like Mitchell and Harden. This allowed the Pistons to crash inside anytime he rolled to the basket, which made it difficult for them to get him the ball.
But if Allen got his hands on the ball, he was able to make them pay as he converted nine of his 10 shots in the paint. He spent stretches of this game being the best player on the court, which is incredibly impressive considering the talent on the other team.
Detroit also didn’t have an answer for Mobley.
He did more of his damage outside, going 4-8 from three. But they also couldn’t handle Mobley inside as he went 5-6 in the restricted area.
“He’s starting to catch a groove, I can see it,” Atkinson said. “Just seems like when he comes back from injury, it just takes him a little bit to get going. So that might be the most positive thing about this, about this game tonight.”
The Cavs are on the Pistons level, even though they couldn’t get the result on Friday, and rightfully so. They routed the New York Knicks on Tuesday and went toe-to-toe on the road with the conference leaders despite being severly short handed. They should feel that way.
“I feel like we’re one of the top teams,” Mobley said. “They’ve got to face us, honestly. We’re playing pretty good basketball, and we’re going to continue to play good basketball. Just got to play our best basketball in April, May, and June. That’s our goal right now. We’re going to learn from this game and just keep stacking wins and get ready for the playoffs.”
Right now, the Cavaliers are unlucky. Injuries are happening at all the wrong times. And on top of it, they weren’t rewarded with a win despite playing well enough to get one.
Yes, they should’ve closed it out, but they were also on the wrong end of more than a few calls that went against them. If the referees called the foul on the floor on the Dannis Jenkins “shot attempt” as they should’ve, this game ends differently. The same could be said about several other calls.
However, the end result in a game like this isn’t the only thing that matters. This team is putting the pieces together at the right time. And if they ever get healthy, they will be a problem in the playoffs.
And that’s true, even though luck wasn’t on their side on Friday.
“Learn from our mistakes right now and just keep ramping up, staying focused,” Mobley said. “Game in and game out, just being locked in, knowing what our game plan is and figuring that out. Getting comfortable with the new guys. But I feel like we’re getting there pretty quickly and we’re on a good trajectory right now.”