Jackson’s pull-up jumper tied it and Drummond made one of two free throws with 2:07 left to give Detroit its first second-half lead, 98-97. Andre Drummond was deservedly getting national recognition on his way to two straight Eastern Conference Player-of-the-Week awards.
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“I don’t know when that point came”, he said. “That’s last year. It’s a totally different year, and until we figure that out, we’re going to continue to put ourselves in positions to lose basketball games”.
Ignoring the big picture for a moment, James was asked what he wanted to see out of the Cavs against the Bucks on Thursday night.
“You can’t play down to the competition at this point, because we’re not better than no one in the league”, he added. They have a general manager (David Griffin) with a keen eye for talent, an able coach (Blatt) growing into the job in his second season and a deep, talented and versatile roster anchored by an acknowledged superstar (LeBron James).
“When you are guarding the best player in the world you can’t stop him”, Pistons center Andre Drummond said. And on top of that, one of the team’s strengths is its ability to ad-lib on the offensive end.
Love scored 19 points, and Smith and Mo Williams had 15 each for Cleveland, which is still without injured star Kyrie Irving.
“It doesn’t matter who is the coach over in MI”.
“It’s not always about being Iron Man”, James said.
The Cleveland Cavaliers have had a couple of days to stew about their double-overtime loss to the Milwaukee Bucks on Saturday and are ready to get back to winning. As can be expected of a Van Gundy team, their defense is a thing of high art, and the offense displays a very satisfying calculus of space.
“I can tell you he pushes himself harder than he pushes anyone else. I’ve had the chance to read his book, and I’ve had the chance to talk to him, and he’s what this game is all about”. “I haven’t played as well as I thought I should on a night in, night out basis”.
Cavaliers: James scored at least 30 points for the fourth straight game. In the first quarter, he passed Jerry West to take over 19th place on the NBA’s career scoring list.
Point guard Reggie Jackson supplied 23 points, including six free throws in the final minute, along with 12 assists. Drummond also adds about 1.5 blocks and 1.4 steals per game to his incredible rebounding, thus creating a spectacular force inside, not to mention his 6’11 and 279 lb frame.
The Pistons and Drummond agreed to not sign an extension before the November 2nd deadline in order to preserve cap space for the 2016 season. Bogut added eight points, nine rebounds and two assists.
While they both initiate a game with a light-hearted alley-oop play that James starts and Mozgov finishes during warm-ups, the duo’s relationship takes quite a turn once the game starts.
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Which brings me back to the big picture and this momentary detour into an assessment of the current states of Cleveland’s three pro sports franchises.
