CLEVELAND – The Detroit Pistons were in control. An alley lob from Cade Cunningham gave the Marvin Bagley III Pistons an 80-68 lead late in the third quarter.
But the Cavaliers used 24-4 in the second half to control the match, leaving their home circuit with the win. The Pistons fell to the Cavaliers at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse on Saturday, 113-109, despite a top 40 points of the season from Jeramy Grant. Sadiq Bey finished with 20 points and six rebounds, and Kid Cunningham added a double-double with 15 points, 10 assists and six rebounds.
Cleveland’s run came after Stewart, who had a solid defensive play and kept Mobley in check for much of the night, exited the game with 3:35 left in the third quarter after making his fourth foul.
Detroit struggled to score as Cunningham, Grant and Bay have been off the bench in recent weeks, and that was the case on Saturday. A five-man bench unit made up of Saben Lee, Rodney McGruder, Isaiah Livers, Marvin Bagley III and Kelly Olynyk struggled to get ahead of anything. Cleveland took forever with 39.4 seconds to play for third, when they defeated Kevin Love 3 for a 14-1 stretch and put the Cavaliers ahead 82-81.
Cunningham, Grant and Corey Joseph were back in the game with 9:05 left, but the damage was already done. A late 3-bye cut the difference to 105-102 with 2:38 on the clock, but Isaac Okoro dropped a 3-pointer dagger after a minute to score the victory for Cleveland.
Killian Hayes missed the match with a head contusion.
Grant’s big night is not enough
During the first half, Grant appeared to be on his way to matching Bey’s friend’s 51-point goal against the Orlando Magic on Thursday. Grant scored 27 points during the first two quarters, defeating eight of his 12 total shots and six of seven 3-point attempts.
Like Bey on Thursday, everything Grant did seemed easy. He dropped 3 pointers after 3 and got his usual diet of free throw attempts, going 7 for 7 on the streak. Grant calmed down a bit during the second half, but did his best to keep the Pistons afloat. He led Detroit in the fourth quarter with eight points, scoring 39 and 40 after stopping the ball with 4:03 left in the game.
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