The Cavaliers defense and offense sputtered Sunday, allowing the struggling Detroit Pistons to invade The Q and leave with the 103-80 victory.
With Kyrie Irving sitting out his second straight game nursing a bruised knee, Brandon Jennings torched backup point guards Matthew Dellavedova and AJ Price. Jennings spearheaded Detroit’s effort with 25 points on 10-of-18 shooting. He splashed in five threes and scored 12 pivotal points in the third quarter that gave the Pistons permanent control.
Cleveland (18-12) was up by 15 early in the second quarter, but everything went downhill when Shawn Marion sprained his left ankle midway in the quarter. Going up for a layup, he planted his left foot wrong, slightly bending it backwards. He immediately went to the floor in pain and was helped to the locker room, but would return.
From there, the Cavaliers felt little else than pain. Soon after Marion went down, the defense sputtered and the offensive creativeness disappeared. That’s not a healthy combination. The Pistons went on an 18-0 run and took a three-point halftime advantage.
Detroit (7-23) opened the third on an 18-6 run and limited the Cavaliers to 14 third-quarter points. In the fourth, the lead grew to as many as 27 and boos rained down from the stands.
Head coach David Blatt looked lost in seeking a solution. Cleveland shot an abysmal 38 percent from the field and was outscored 86-52 in the final three quarters.
Andre Drummond was a beast for Detroit in the paint, finishing with 16 points and a game-high 17 rebounds.
Kevin Love got his 16th double-double, 20 points and 10 rebounds. Tristan Thompson ended with 18 points, 11 rebounds. He’s averaging 10.5 boards in his last four games. LeBron James flirted with a triple double, adding 17 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists in 31 minutes.
Cleveland fell to 12-6 at home.
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