Pistons' Caldwell-Pope: 'It's Good That We Have That Fight In Us'
By Ashley Scoby
@AshleyScoby
Several LeBron James jerseys peppered the stands at the Palace of Auburn Hills Friday, with local fans coming out to cheer on the former NBA MVP. And although many fans came just for him, James didn't have to singlehandedly carry the Cavs to their 114-106 victory over Detroit.
Kevin Love (29) and Kyrie Irving (28) had exactly half the Cavaliers' points, leaving James to do minimal (by his standards), but still fatal, damage (20 points, nine rebounds, eight assists).
"When they're scoring like that, they're unbeatable," said Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, who finished with 19 points and seven rebounds. "You have to stop them from scoring like that. You can't have all three of them scoring double-digits like that. They're gonna be hard to beat."
The Pistons let the third quarter get away from them, with a 66-58 Cleveland lead at halftime ballooning into a 19-point one with less than two minutes left in the period. Detroit chipped that away to single digits twice. But no matter the effort levels coming from the Pistons, Cleveland was just the better team. The Cavaliers had too much talent to spread around, and Detroit couldn't keep up.
"They played really, really well, and so it's not all on us," head coach Stan Van Gundy said. "They were terrific, so how are you gonna beat a good team playing that well? Well, you can't give them those other things. You can't give them second chances, you can't give them free points at the free throw line. You've got to take away what you can take away and we didn't."
In principle, it was the same thing that has plagued the Pistons all season – defensive lapses, combined with too much fouling – that put Cleveland on the line 29 times (with a 93.1 percent success rate).
And although the margin was, at times, large, and Cleveland led for nearly the entire game, the Pistons still showed the same personality they've displayed all year. No margin is too big to not chip away at, and no fight is intimidating.
Marcus Morris, who finished with 14 points, tussled with James on a trip downcourt, and the two had to be separated before a double-foul was assessed. Morris also had choice words to say to Timofey Mozgov after Morris blocked his shot and Mozgov fell to the ground.
Drummond also got into a couple tangles, and even Aron Baynes bodied James as he came off a screen.
"Me personally, I don't let anyone have their way," Morris said. "It can be the worst players or a good player. I don't let anyone have their way with me on the court."
That physicality and attitude keep the Pistons in games, even when talent-wise, they're over-matched, like on Friday. When Irving and Love both score close to 30 points on any given night, the Cavaliers are tough to contain.
"It's good that we have that fight in us," Caldwell-Pope said. "We don't need to just lay down and pack it in and let the game go. We have to keep fighting through the whole game even when we're down."