Cavaliers Heavy Favorite To Deal Pistons Seventh Straight Loss

The Cleveland Cavaliers must not be overconfident against the reeling Pistons on Saturday, Mar. 4.
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KEY POINTS

The Pistons face tall odds as they try to end their losing spell and overcome a rebound-seeking Cavaliers quintet
The Cavaliers cannot take the Pistons for granted if they are to bounce back from a loss to the Celtics
Detroit needs to play wiser and double their effort if they are to avoid their seventh straight loss

The Cleveland Cavaliers are heavily favored to compound the woes of the Detroit Pistons when the two NBA teams meet Saturday at the Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse in Cleveland, Ohio.

Pundits heavily favor the Cavs to come out victorious. Cleveland is a -13 spread favorite, with the moneyline set at -850 for Cleveland and +600 for Detroit.

Unless their healthy players can come up with a good game, the Pistons are staring at possibly their seventh straight loss this Saturday. Their last assignment, which took place Wednesday night, was a 115-117 loss to the Chicago Bulls.

In that game, the Pistons bowed to the Bulls due to a timeout blunder by Jaden Ivey.

With about 9.7 seconds left in the contest, Ivey called a timeout but was unaware that they had no more left. This resulted in a technical foul that Zach LaVine converted.

“He panicked, but the game wasn’t won or lost on that one play,” Pistons coach Dwane Casey stated post-game via ESPN. “It was lost in the first quarter. With the laissez-faire approach we had defensively, they got whatever they wanted. It’s such a mountain to climb when you get behind in this league.”

The loss spoiled the 34-point and six-rebound performance of Bojan Bogdanovic. Hamidou Diallo came off the bench to add 19 points, while Ivey finished with 18 markers.

On the other side, the Cavaliers are looking to bounce back from their Wednesday loss to the Boston Celtics, 113-117.

The Cavs were scorched by the offense of Jayson Tatum, who finished with 41 points, 11 rebounds, and eight assists.

“Tatum’s a heck of a player, [Jaylen] Brown’s a heck of a player that knows how to make you pay,” Cavaliers coach J.B. Bickerstaff said via ESPN.

Donovan Mitchell led the Cavs in the losing effort with 44 points and five assists. Darius Garland added 29 markers and nine assists.

Regardless, Cleveland cannot let its guard down. They need to do a better job off the boards and provide Mitchell and Garland with the added offense.

The Cavaliers and the Pistons eye a much-needed win Saturday. The match will be shown over Bally Sports at 7:30 p.m. EST, with live streaming also available via FuboTV.