Preview: Cavaliers at Pistons
Gracenote
Oct 25, 2018
Blake Griffin is coming off a career-best 50-point effort but his main focus is helping the Detroit Pistons improve to 4-0. The Pistons look for another solid effort from their star power forward when they host the winless Cleveland Cavaliers on Thursday.
Griffin led the way in Tuesday's 133-132 overtime win over the Philadelphia 76ers to become the first Detroit player to reach the 50-point mark since Richard Hamilton tallied 51 in a triple-overtime loss to the New York Knicks on Dec. 27, 2006, but he is ready to move on to the Cavaliers. "We've got to prepare," Griffin told reporters. "I'm very comfortable but I also know that this season is such a roller coaster that the quickest way to come out and get beat is to go into the next game thinking about this game." Cleveland is struggling in the wake of LeBron James' departure as a free agent and was routed 102-86 by the visiting Brooklyn Nets on Wednesday to start 0-4 for the first time since the 2003-04 campaign. "We've got to keep plugging away," Cavaliers coach Tyronn Lue said in his postgame press conference. "... We can't let it fester. The good thing about the NBA is we have another one (Thursday). We have to be ready to play. Detroit is playing at a high level right now and we have to be ready for it."
TV: 7 p.m. ET, FS Ohio (Cleveland), FS Detroit
ABOUT THE CAVALIERS (0-4): Lue is finding it much harder to coach an NBA team without James on the roster as Cleveland's four setbacks are by an average of 14.5 points. His squad was obliterated 38-17 in the third quarter by the Nets - who made 16-of-22 shots in the quarter - and Lue used four timeouts to try to stem the tide to no avail. "Anytime you lose, it's tough." Lue told reporters. "We have to keep learning from it. We can use a different rotation and use different combinations. We've got to continue to keep playing."
ABOUT THE PISTONS (3-0): Griffin, a five-time All-Star, appears primed to again be mentioned as one of the elite players in the NBA after three straight troublesome campaigns that included the Los Angeles Clippers dealing him to Detroit midway through last season. "The past two, three years, all I hear is how bad I am," Griffin told reporters. "And, you know, I've been hurt, had bad games. I haven't even played the way I have. But we've talked about it: This summer, being able to work out for the first time in three summers, is huge. Last three summers, I was fighting and working as hard as I could to get healthy to be able to play. This summer, I was able to really put time in and work on my game, on my body." Griffin is averaging 36.3 points, 11.3 rebounds and 5.7 assists.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. The Cavaliers went 3-1 against the Pistons last season.
2. Cleveland C Tristan Thompson scored two points on 1-of-10 shooting versus the Nets after being 12-of-15 shooting over the previous two games.
3. Detroit G Reggie Jackson scored 23 points against Philadelphia and is averaging 20 per game.
PREDICTION: Pistons 116, Cavaliers 89