With an intimidating frontcourt that includes three strong, powerful and athletic big men in Josh Smith, Greg Monroe and Andre Drummond, the Detroit Pistons have proven to have a dominating presence in the paint. This is not a secret.
The Cavaliers, too, have cobbled together a more-than-competent rotation of big men, themselves. Andrew Bynum at center, Tristan Thompson at power forward and Anderson Varejao coming off the bench has resulted in an effective and active group.
When the two groups faced off Monday, however, it was The Battle of the Big Men That Never Was – because the Pistons thoroughly dominated while cruising to a 115-92 victory in front of 19,215 at The Q.
The loss was the worst home loss for the Cavaliers since an April 3, 2012 125-90 blowout stumbling to the San Antonio Spurs, and it was the Cavaliers’ fourth loss in their last five games.
The Detroit starting big men combined for 50 points and 30 rebounds, as both Drummond (14 points, 11 rebounds) and Monroe (11 points, 11 rebounds) logged double-doubles. Smith wasn’t far off while tallying 25 points and 8 rebounds – with 20 of those points coming in the first half.
“You name it, we didn’t execute it right,” Cavaliers coach Mike Brown said. “Everything went wrong when it came to their bigs”
The thorough outplaying — particularly down low — the lack of defense, the lack of fire and nonexistent urgency all were troubling for Brown.
“Our grittiness, our sense of urgency defensively has not been there,” Brown said. “Not just the last two games, even some of the games we’ve won.”
The outcome never was even in question against the Pistons, as the Cavaliers began with woeful shooting, fell behind 28-18 by the end of the first quarter, saw the Detroit lead balloon to 28 points, and never cut it to less than 11.
Click here to read more of this story.
About Marion Online Sports
