(Field Level Media) Darius Garland’s 28 points led six Cleveland scorers in double figures, and the Cavaliers overcame the absence of Donovan Mitchell to send the visiting Detroit Pistons to their 10th consecutive loss, 108-100 on Friday in pool play of the NBA in-season tournament.
The win pulled Cleveland to 1-1 in East Group A play of the in-season tournament. Detroit fell to 0-3 in the tournament and continued its losing skid. The Pistons are winless in November.
Cleveland led for all but a brief stretch in the first quarter of Friday’s contest, and surged ahead by 16 points in the second quarter. The Cavaliers hit six 3-pointers before halftime, part of their 9-of-21 shooting night from beyond the arc.
Detroit went just 2-of-14 from outside in the first half as Cleveland built its lead.
The Pistons made 7 of 21 3-point attempts in the second half, however, as they rallied to cut the deficit to as few as four points.
With 29.2 ppg scorer Mitchell a late scratch with a hamstring injury, Garland and Evan Mobley picked up the slack down the stretch. The two combined for 14 of Cleveland’s final 19 points.
Mobley finished with 18 points, a team-high 11 rebounds and a team-high-tying five assists. Craig Porter came off the bench to score 12 points on 5-of-7 shooting from the floor and add five assists.
Caris LeVert, the only Cavalier other than Garland or Mobley to score in the final 7:26, finished with 10 points.
Cleveland also got 18 points from Max Strus, who shot 4-of-8 from 3-point range, and 10 points from Jarrett Allen.
Allen grabbed seven rebounds and contributed to Detroit’s shooting struggles with five blocked shots. The Pistons shot just 39-of-91 from the floor for the game and committed almost as many turnovers (17) as they had assists (19).
Cade Cunningham led Detroit with 20 points and a game-high eight assists, while Isaiah Stewart and Kevin Knox each recorded double-doubles of 11 points and 10 rebounds.
Jaden Ivey added another 11 points and Alec Burks and Stanley Umude scored 10 points off the bench.
