Cavaliers defenseless second quarter leads to 114-110 Pistons win
BY TIM SHIRER
CAVS BEAT WRITER
(CLEVELAND, OH) - This past six days Clevland Cavaliers (20-17, 13-9 home) fans have been given a glimpse of the team they expected as the Cavaliers defeated the San Antonio Spurs (25-10), Phoenix Suns (20-14), and Denver Nuggets (23-11) three of the top teams in the always tough Western Conference.
Sunday was another test as they welcomed former Cavs coach JB Bickerstaff and the Eastern Conference number one seed Detroit Pistons (26-9, 13-6 road) to Rocket Arena. The meeting was the second of the season. The first came in Detroit at Little Caesers Arena on October 27th and the Cavs won the meeting convincingly 116-95. The Pistons took off after the loss and won 15 straight games. Detroit had struggled recently losing three of their last five games. On Sunday afternoon the Cavs were without Jarrett Allen, and it definitely showed as the Pistons scored 47 points in the second quarter on their way to beating the Cavs 114-110.
The game was off to a slow start with 9:10 left the Pistons led 6-5, then increased their lead to 8-5 with 8:55 left when Evan Mobley fouled Cade Cunningham. The Cavs then tied the game 8-8 at the other end when Sam Merrill hit his second three in the early going with 8:45 remining in the opening quarter. The Cavs took an 11-10 lead when Mobley drained a three with 7:28 remaining. The Cavs took a 14-13 lead when Mobley was fouled in the paint and converted the free throw with 6:52 remaining. With 4:55 left on the clock, the Cavs took a 21-17 lead when Merrill drained his third three of the opening quarter. After a Pistons turnover the Cavs lead grew to 25-17 with 3:00 left when Nae’Qwan Tomlin tapped in a Donovan Mitchell miss. Forcing Bickerstaff to take a timeout. As time ran out the Cavs held the Pistons to 19 points in the opening quarter and held a 28-19 lead. Merril led everyone in scoring in the first 12 minutes with nine points. Cunningham paced the Pistons with eight points. The Cavs shot a dismal 39% (9 of 23) from the field while the Pistons were even worse shooting 27% (7 of 26). The Pistons outrebounded Cleveland 16-11.
With 9:54 left in the second quarter the Cavs lead was 33-25 when Mobley drained another three from the top of the arc. The Pistons scored the next five points and cut the Cleveland lead to 33-30 with 9:09 left when Daniss Jenkins hit a three. Cavs bench boss Kenny Atkinson took an immediate timeout in hopes of interrupting the Detroit momentum. The Cavs built the lead back to nine with a 6-0 run and then the Pistons cut it back to five points with 6:59 left when Ausar Thompson scored in the paint. The Pistons trimmed the Cavs lead to 42-41 with 4:26 left when Jenkins drained a three from the top of the arc. The Pistons then took a 46-44 lead when Duncan Robinson drained a three with 3:41 left in the opening half. The Cavs regained the lead with 3:03 left when Thomas Bryant hit a three. It was all Pistons for the remainder of the half as they outscored the Cavs 20-9 in the final 3:03 of the quarter to take a 66-55 lead into the locker room. The Pistons scored an unacceptable 47 points in the second quarter. The Cavs defense had left the building. Jenkins led all scorers with 21 first half points. Merrill and Garland were leading Cleveland with 12 points apiece. Detroit was on fire from the field in the second quarter shooting 67% (18 of 27) and finishing at 47% (25 of 53) for the first half. The Cavs shot 40% (16 of 40) in the opening half. The Pistons also outshot the Cavs from long range 44% (11 of 25) to 33% (7 of 21). Without Jarrett Allen who was out with an illness the Piston dominated the board 30-17 in the first 24 minutes.
The Cavs went on an 8-0 run to start the third quarter and close to within two points at 66-64 with 10:04 on the clock when Mitchell drained a three. After the Pistons built the lead back up to five points the Cavs cut it back to three with 5:27 left in the third when Thomas Bryant was fouled and hit both free throws. Then he cut it to two points at 74-72 when De’Andre (DJ) Hunter hit a three with 4:59 remaining. With Pistons up by four Mitchell scored in the lane and was fouled. He hit the free throw to close the gap to 76-75 with 3:43 left on the third quarter clock. With 3:11 left a personal foul was called on Detroit’s Ron Holland III and at the same time a technical foul was called on Hunter. After all the free throws were shot the Cavs tied the game 77-77. But the Pistons quickly regained the lead with a three pointer by Javonte Green with 2:50 on the clock. Bryant then committed an offensive foul, and the ball went back to the Pistons. Atkinson called a timeout. The Cavs defense was struggling as the third quarter ended and the Pistons took an 87-79 lead with 1:01 left on the clock. As time ran out the Piston lead was 87-82. Cunningham led all scorers with 23 and Mitchell led the Cavs with 20 after three quarters.
The Pistons continued to take advantage of the Cavs’ poor defense as the final quarter began and their lead expanded to double digits at 92-82. Lonzo Ball entered the game, and things worsened for the Cavs as Ball bricked a three-point attempt. The Pistons took advantage and with 97-85 lead. Two possessions later Atkinson removed Ball from the game and replaced him with Merrill. After the Cavs took a 106-93 lead with 4:59 left in regulation the Cavs went on a 9-0 run to cut the Pistons lead to four with 2:47 left when Mitchell hit a three. Bickerstaff took a timeout. With 1:16 left Garland scored in the paint and cut the Detroit lead to 108-106. After Detroit failed to score and turned the ball over out of bounds. The Cavs defense could not stop the Pistons in the final seconds after Mitchell was slapped in the face by Jenkins, then Jenkins hit a jumper giving the Pistons a 110-106 lead with just :17.2 left on the clock. With :07.6 left on the clock Mitchell was fouled. As has been a problem all season Mitchell failed to make both free throws hitting one of two and the Pistons lead was 110-107. Bickerstaff took a timeout. With :05.7 on the clock Merrill fouled Jenkins. Jenkins hit both free throws to seal the Pistons victory 114-110.
Mitchell led all scorers with 29 points in the loss. Cunningham paced the Pistons with 27. Jenkins also had 21 for Detroit.
The Cavs sorely missed Allen’s presence on the boards, especially in the second quarter where they were outrebounded by the Pistons 12-5 aiding the Pistons in their 47 point quarter. The Cavs rebounded better in the second half, but it wasn’t enough as the Pistons won the battle of the boards 45-44. The Cavs outshot the Pistons from the field 44% (35 of 80) to 41% (39 of 95). The Pistons, however, were better from three-point range outshooting Cleveland 38% (15 of 40) to 33% (14 of 42). Free throw shooting once again was costly for the Cavs as they missed four shooting 26 of 30 while the Pistons were a perfect 21 of 21 from the charity stripe. Bench points were also a huge facto as the Pistons bench outscored the Cavs bench 51-28. Also, another factor, without Allen the Pistons outscored Cleveland in the paint 40-30. Atkinson simply said after the game, “they were the better team tonight.”
The Cavs will now travel to Indianapolis to take on the Indiana Pacers (6-29, 5-14 home) at Gainbridge Fieldhouse on Tuesday at 7 pm. It will be the third meeting between the two teams this season. The Cavs won both meetings 120-109 (11/21/25 at Rocket Arena) and 135-119 (12/01/25 at Gainbridge Fieldhouse).
POSTED 01/04/2026 17:05
Lake County Sentinel
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Cavs guard Sam Merrill shoots a three in the second quarter of the Cavs 114-110 loss to the Detroit Pistons on Sunday afternoon at Rocket Arena. Photo by Tommy Shirer
