According to oddsmakers at BetDSI, Cleveland is favored is at home, as the Cavaliers are getting odds of -2 points against the Pistons.
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“I’m still the same defensive-minded individual I was many years ago”, said Jones. “It starts to wake up and round into form”. “It’s all about making the easy play”, Cleveland coach Tyronn Lue told reporters.
Kobe looked vintage in the first quarter with 13 points, but he went scoreless the rest of the way.
Irving had four turnovers in the fourth quarter, and including three during a game-changing 15-4 run by Bulls reserves, and the Cavs spoiled an opportunity to ensure the No. 1 seed in the East.
The Detroit Pistons hopped on a flight Tuesday night following their 99-93 loss to the Miami Heat at The Palace of Auburn Hills for a regular-season finale against the Cleveland Cavaliers with as much importance as a preseason game.
It was during this game that then-coach David Blatt inserted Tristan Thompson into a starting lineup featuring LeBron James, Iman Shumpert, Timofey Mozgov and Irving. Obviously, LeBron had an fantastic shooting night. Still, the Cavaliers had a chance to steal the game with two seconds left on a wide-open three-pointer by Matthew Dellavedova. For me, just coming to the bench, I just got to do a better job of leading that second unit – especially when Bron [James] and Kevin [Love] are on the bench. “That’s the way I felt”. “When we have a win-or-die or win-or-go-home mentality, we’re going to be really, really hard to beat”.
Either way, this is a team feeling good about itself after winning a playoff-style game against a potential playoff opponent in the Hawks (48-33). “They’re fragile”, he said.
While the Cavs are the better team, they also have everything locked up and may have time restrictions on key players. “Focus in and dial it in more on what needs to be done to make us better”, James said. The Cavs demonstrated Monday what they’re capable of doing when they’re motivated and playing together.
James’ close friend and teammate James Jones said he could see the Cleveland talisman clicking into top gear as the playoffs loomed.
Kyrie Irving contributed to the Cavaliers loss by giving the ball away three times in the fourth period. Irving’s numbers this season are down everywhere. He became a father last summer and was dragged back into social media headlines recently following a dust-up over an ex-girlfriend. Four of those started, while Jordan Farmar, Xavier Munford and now Bryce Cotton wound up signed for what remains of the season under the NBA’s hardship rules.
Center Dewayne Dedmon also gave a big effort in place of injured Nikola Vucevic, scoring 17 points and grabbing eight rebounds while at times outplaying Milwaukee centre Greg Monroe. “I’ve never had a season like this”. Surgery has always been an option, but it would eliminate him from the postseason and the rehab could even bleed into next season.
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Now the Bulls must be ideal and have to rely on real lottery teams to help them sneak into the postseason. The Cavs enter Monday with a two game lead over the Toronto Raptors although Toronto holds the tiebreaker.
