Channing Frye, acquired in a trade last week, hit four 3-pointers and finished with 15 points while J.R. Smith scored 16.
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Sometimes, the Cleveland Cavaliers lose because of LeBron James and not in spite of him.
Eastern Conference Central Division fourth ranking team Detroit Pistons defeated the conference leader Cleveland Cavaliers with a 96-88 victory at the Quicken Loans Arena on Monday night.
“You’ve seen it all year: We’re capable of beating anybody and we’re capable of losing to anybody”. “It feels good to get it, but it’s also the best we’ve played since the Golden State game”.
On the other side of the ball, it was Pistons guard Reggie Jackson who paced the Pistons with the 23 points along with playing a pivotal role in building an 18-point Detroit lead after three.
Kyrie Irving scored 30 and Kevin Love 24 for Cleveland, which had an off night after looking so impressive in a win at Oklahoma City on February 21.
“I probably should have had about 12 of them”, said James, who acknowledged lacking energy on the back end of a back-to-back.
“I guess I’ve played so much basketball, man, feeling great, those days are pretty much over”, James said.
Forward Tobias Harris scored 14 points and grabbed five rebounds in his first start with his new team.
The Pistons got better production from their top six players than the Cavs did.
One of the things to note about the Cavaliers starting five is that is not very tall up front. He got only got 3 shot attempts in the 4th quarter including only 2 from deep. “We’ve been trying to find a way to battle and be resilient, and I couldn’t be more proud of the guys for stepping up with us so short-handed”.
“I was telling my friends it’s more like I appreciate the team being extremely thorough, ” he said. The superstar small forward struggled to 12 points on 5-of-18 shooting and committed six turnovers in the setback.
NOTES: Detroit F Anthony Tolliver will miss two to four weeks with a sprained right knee.
One day after throttling the Thunder in OKC, the Cavaliers return home to take on a Pistons team that lost outright as a home favorite to the Pelicans. While the Cavs remain 3.5 games ahead of the second place Toronto Raptors in the Eastern Conference, the Pistons are still two games out of eight place, behind the Chicago Bulls and Charlotte Hornets.
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Reporters asked LeBron, who has only missed one game so far this season, how his body is holding up during a media session earlier today. Cavs G Mo Williams will visit Dr. James Andrews on Tuesday for a second opinion on his ailing left knee.
