On Tuesday evening, the Cleveland Cavs will hit the road for Game 1 of their second round series against the Detroit Pistons. The Cavs got to this point thanks to a comfortable Game 7 win over the Toronto Raptors at home, while Detroit also punched their ticket with a Game 7 win, having rallied back from a 3-1 deficit against the Orlando Magic.
On Tuesday morning, the Cavs released their latest injury report for this game, and it was a good sight to see for fans, as there was not a single player listed for Game 1. Meanwhile, for the Pistons, guard Kevin Huerter is questionable due to a left adductor strain.
The Cavs will certainly need all the health they can have for a series against the Pistons that figures to be just as physical, if not more so, than their first round tilt with the Raptors was. Cleveland was not exactly impressive in that series, dropping all three games on the road in Toronto and showing major concerns about their ability to generate good shots in crunch time, despite having both James Harden and Donovan Mitchell on their team.
On the whole, both Mitchell and Harden struggled in that series, despite strong starts, and will look to bounce back this round against an elite Detroit defense that held the Magic to a shocking 19 points in the second half last Friday in order to stave off elimination and avoid a Game 7.
Defensively, priority number one for Cleveland will be making life hard on Cade Cunningham and forcing his inexperienced teammates to try to make plays, which they were largely unable to do against Orlando.
The Cavs and Pistons are slated to tip off at 7:00 pm ET from Detroit.