Cavaliers sputter against the Pistons after dismal fourth period

Cleveland Cavaliers couldn’t finish the job

The Cleveland Cavaliers crash and burn after a terrible fourth-quarter outing against the Detroit Pistons to suffer a painful 115-105 road loss. Regardless of their upward trajectory, the Cavs appeared to have played down to the competition and had to pay a heavy price for it in the end.

Coming off an impressive victory over the defending champions Milwaukee Bucks that capped off a successful three-game homestand defense, the Cavaliers should have had an upper hand against the second-worst team in the Eastern Conference except the squad didn’t play like they needed the win.

It clearly wasn’t a matter of being rusty from getting three days of rest, with Cleveland immediately jumping on a 15-0 start to the game but appeared to have relaxed and eased on the pedal to allow the Pistons to race back and steal the lead midway through the final quarter. Not only did the Cavs play poorly on defense, but they also struggled to find the basket late.

Darius Garland continued to lead Cleveland with 24 points and seven assists, with four other Cavaliers players finishing in double figures.  None of them had any answers in the final quarter, however, as the team finished with an embarrassing 17-point output in the loss.

The Tower City frontcourt also botched the assignment against the Pistons. Not only were they outscored in the paint by 18 points as a collective, the Cavs were also outrebounded by a Detroit team bannered by only one legitimate big man in Isaiah Stewart.

Resilient Cavs need a quick rebound

Despite the loss, the Cavs remain in fourth place in the highly competitive East. With 30 wins against 20 losses, Cleveland still sits only two games behind the first-place Miami Heat team in a suffocatingly competitive conference.

With All-Star weekend quickly approaching, Garland and Jarrett Allen can still make a final push to be selected as reserves in the main event as Cleveland prepares to host the festivities just days after the looming trade deadline, when the front office might opt to either stand pat or trade for formidable reinforcements to aid the postseason quest.

Even after having played one of their worst outings this season, the Cavs are still on track to secure a ticket to their first postseason appearance in four years by winning eight of their previous 10 assignments.

Now the Cleveland Cavaliers have just about 24 hours to quickly turn it back around as they return to the Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse to host the New Orleans Pelicans and close an impressive month of action.