Detroit Pistons head coach Dwane Casey shared high praise for the Cleveland Cavaliers as he reviewed ways to keep the young team’s persistence alive throughout all four quarters in a postgame press conference.
“They’re a good team,” said Dwane Casey. “This team is going to be in the running at the end of the year, during the playoffs.
“(Cavs head coach J.B. Bickerstaff) ‘s done a good job with this group. They’ve got a superstar in Donovan Mitchell, and Garland is right behind him. Allen and Mobley fit right in with the way they want to play.”
The Cavaliers stabilized themselves with a 114-90 win over the Pistons after losing four of their last five games to some of their most formidable remaining opponents this season. Forward Evan Mobley swatted away four shots, perfectly timing his two contests in the first quarter to keep the Pistons’ paint attack at bay.
Pistons forward Marvin Bagley, who scored 20 points and grabbed 13 rebounds as he pushed through both Mobley and Cavs center Jarrett Allen in the paint, echoed some high praise of his own.
“That’s a great team over there,” Bagley said. “They’ve got a lot of great pieces. They play hard. Every time we play those guys, we know it’s going to be a game. Guys like (Evan) Mobley, Jarrett Allen. The list goes on, really. They’ve got some talent over there. It’s always going to be a good game when you go up against a team like that.
“We have just got to come into these games like we did in the first half. The competing level was high, and just try and continue to figure out how to do that for a longer period of time.”
The Cavs will tip off against the Boston Celtics at 7 p.m. EST on Monday in Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse. The game will be broadcasted on Bally Sports Ohio.