2023-24 Season | Game #45 | Pistons @ Cavs | Jan. 31, 2024 | 7:00 p.m.

[Wham with the Right Hand]

I think JBB coached another great game. We were contesting their shots but yet Detroit shot 52% from 3 and 56% from the floor. Those are insane numbers, especially from 3. Yet. because of our own offense we still won the game. We had only 9 turnovers, in 55 combined minutes, only 3 turnovers from our 2 point guards. 5 if you throw in LeVert in a total of 80 minutes.

Sometimes teams get hot,. Winning this type of game is a good sign, not a bad one in my opinion.

Detroit hit some crazy shots. They're much better now; in fact they won two of their last three coming into this game, including a 14-point beatdown of 33-15 OKC in their last game.

It wasn't just our offense that won the game - we had 13 steals and blocked 5 shots. We took eight more shots than they did mainly due to forcing 17 turnovers.

The Cavs will play better as Garland and Mobley get more minutes and JBB figures out which 5-man units work better.

 

[Wham with the Right Hand]

They shot 60.5% from the floor and 60% from 3 when the closest defender was 2-4 feet away...The best team in the league when the closest defender is 2-4 feet away shoots 56.4% from the floor and 38.3% from 3...

To say Detroit made a lot of tough shots last night is an understatement.

So shooting 38% on 3's when the closest defender is 2-4 feet away is what the BEST team in the league is averaging, but last night Detroit hit 60%. Unbelievable.

They had a crazy good shooting night. I'll bet this was their best 3-point shooting game of the year. They must be really annoyed that they still lost. But they don't play good defense and they don't have Donovan Mitchell, so even an insanely great shooting night wasn't enough.

 

[BimboColesHair]

So shooting 38% on 3's when the closest defender is 2-4 feet away is what the BEST team in the league is averaging, but last night Detroit hit 60%. Unbelievable.

They had a crazy good shooting night. I'll bet this was their best 3-point shooting game of the year. They must be really annoyed that they still lost. But they don't play good defense and they don't have Donovan Mitchell, so even an insanely great shooting night wasn't enough.

3rd best game of the season by 3P%, 3rd best game of the season by 3P makes, and highest FG% of the season so far for the Pistons.

And 55% of their shots came in situations where teams on average shoot 44% from the floor and 32% from 3.

Very fluky game. Happens in sports all the time.

 

[Wham with the Right Hand]

Part of it was Gallinari; he's 6'10" so you can't block his 3-point shot. He was 4-for-4 from deep and a couple of them were with a defender right in his grill. He averages 7.5 ppg and had 20 last night with Stewart and Muscala out.

Sometimes a 35-year-old 3rd stringer comes off the bench and can't miss. It happens. Like I said, we're lucky Detroit can't play defense and we have DM.

 

[Lee]

Can we just not throw LeVert into any general discussion of “point guards” playing for the Cavs? You are really making me unsettled here.

Me too, its insane we use him like that. But JBB rather play him at point for 10 minutes than bring in CPJ for those 10 minutes which is what i would do.

 

[Lee]

Part of it was Gallinari; he's 6'10" so you can't block his 3-point shot. He was 4-for-4 from deep and a couple of them were with a defender right in his grill. He averages 7.5 ppg and had 20 last night with Stewart and Muscala out.

Sometimes a 35-year-old 3rd stringer comes off the bench and can't miss. It happens. Like I said, we're lucky Detroit can't play defense and we have DM.

While I agree, what does the ability to slip into someone's direct messages have to do with anything?

I will rate my own dad joke.....3 out of 10. I could do better

 

[N7RobBob]

Caris was +7 last night in a 7-point win. Good thing we had that Caris PG lineup.

Accordinf to NBA.com, The 2 times LeVert was PG was at the end of the 1st quarter with Niang, Strus, Okoro, and Mobley for 3 minutes for a + 25. At the end of the 3rd he was with Niang, Merrill, Wade, and Okoro for 2 minutes was -70. Which are hourly small sample sizes for one game.

Where Caris excelled was his 8 minutes in the 4th quarter with mitchell.

For the month of January
Levert, Thompson, Niang, Strus, Merrill 36 mins, + 1.8
Levert, Niang, Allen, Strus, Merrill 19 mins, +31.7
Levert, Jones, Niang, Strus, Merrill 5 mins, -16.2

That top lineup was the 2nd most used lineup for the month. It was slightly positive. Best lineup over 10 mins and was 4th most used lineup for 27 minutes for +59.1 is Levert, Thompson, Niang, Merrill, and CPJ.

I Like Levert. I'm glad we are winning and JBB has tried out different lineups, 63 lineups with 2 or minutes of time this month and even more in December. I just prefer Caris paired with another ball handler, Mitchell (+7.6) and Porter(+9.2) preferably. Levert and Garland have shared the court together for 237 mins and have -6.2 rtg.

I also think that LeVert is our best trade chip to possibly snag another 3/4 body.

 

[foucault87]

Someone make up a narrative and I will prove that I can fit any legitimate facts into it.

Paul Pierce is the GOAT and its not close

 

[Jscc]

Not in the post to which I was replying. Previously, the stats overall show that we're better with both of them on the floor - although that's different from being synergistic - but the weakness of the stats is that they didn't distinguish between performance against good v. bad teams.

Also, the bulk of the stats were from last year, when we lacked outside shooting and so Garland's shooting was a plus regardless. This year...don't yet know.

Last season, in games that Don and DG both played, against .500 teams or better [35]:

Don
26.2 points, 4.2 assists, 3.7 rebounds

59% TS%

39% from 3

30.9% USG%

+/- of +53

DG
21.4 points, 7.6 assists, 2.5 rebounds

61% TS

43% from 3

26.6% USG%

+/- of +166

Record: 18-17

Looks like a good pairing to me. Mitchell was brought here to make DG's life easier. He did and can do that. DG's TS% in games with Mitchell was 3% greater than his season average.

Neither affected each other's points per game or usage percentages in those games either, which tells me there wasn't any significant ball dominance between the two going on.

 

[boostorbust1]

Last season, in games that Don and DG both played, against .500 teams or better [35]:

Don
26.2 points, 4.2 assists, 3.7 rebounds

59% TS%

39% from 3

30.9% USG%

+/- of +53

DG
21.4 points, 7.6 assists, 2.5 rebounds

61% TS

43% from 3

26.6% USG%

+/- of +166

Record: 18-17

Looks like a good pairing to me. Mitchell was brought here to make DG's life easier. He did and can do that. DG's TS% in games with Mitchell was 3% greater than his season average.

Neither affected each other's points per game or usage percentages in those games either, which tells me there wasn't any significant ball dominance between the two going on.

Add the playoffs and the record goes to 18-21, that doesn't win you a single playoff series


Sorry this record is not good enough to get it done in the playoffs

 

[The Oi]

Paul Pierce is the GOAT and its not close

Paul Pierce made 10 All Star games, which is only two less than Larry Bird who is widely considered a top 5-7 player of all time.

He played for the Washington Wizards like Michael Jordan and his head to head stats match up quite favorably. He was much more efficient. He also never left the game.

He beat LeBron James who is considered by some to be considered the GOAT in the ECF and hit the game winning FTs.

He has made more three pointers than MJ, Kareem, Wilt, Magic, and Bill Russell who some consider to be top 5.

He is the only player known to have pooped his pants on the court.

 

[The Human Q-Tip]

Last season, in games that Don and DG both played, against .500 teams or better [35]:

Don
26.2 points, 4.2 assists, 3.7 rebounds

59% TS%

39% from 3

30.9% USG%

+/- of +53

DG
21.4 points, 7.6 assists, 2.5 rebounds

61% TS

43% from 3

26.6% USG%

+/- of +166

Record: 18-17

Looks like a good pairing to me. Mitchell was brought here to make DG's life easier. He did and can do that. DG's TS% in games with Mitchell was 3% greater than his season average.

Neither affected each other's points per game or usage percentages in those games either, which tells me there wasn't any significant ball dominance between the two going on.

What I think is so interesting about that is that while their individual numbers are great, the team went only 18-17. Which meant we went 33-14 in the games where they both didn't play.

The entire issue is whether their individual achievements result in other players being underutilized and starting to drift offensively. And sure enough, if we take a look at your statistics, their combined usage is 57.5%.

We can get away with relying on just those two in the regular season when our opponents may not be playing defense with a lot of enthusiasm. But when the playoffs come, and perimeter defense tightens, we must have other guys who are used to being fully involved offensively at the other positions.

I don't think it was a coincidence that Jared Allen's game went to the next level on both ends when he started getting significantly more touches.

In any case, pointing to the individual achievements of Mitchell and Garland does not prove that their individual talents truly are synergistic. It may just be that as max players, they are very talented as individuals and so put up impressive statistics. But that doesn't mean they make each other's games better, nor does it mean that they're getting the max out of their teammates.pn

 

[Dr No]

Pretty possession to start