Following Tuesday night’s loss to the Pistons, Kevin Love lamented the fact that the Cavs seem to be unaware of what sets they’re in at times.
Cleveland was competitive in the first quarter of Tuesday night’s game, but the Pistons pulled further and further away as time went on. At the final horn, the Cavs had mustered just 94 points, while the Pistons finished with 127. Clearly, that’s not the effort first-year head coach John Beilein was looking for.
Love took just seven shots in the loss, making three of them. He finished with eight points and four rebounds. The former UCLA standout noted that the Cavs “need flow” in their offense:
“We just need flow,” Love said, via SI’s Sam Amico. “Too many times, we don’t know what (set) we’re in.”
Alright … someone call Progressive. Oh, wait, that’s “Flo.”
Earlier in this campaign, Love and Tristan Thompson were dominant on the low block. In recent games, however, that tandem has cooled off a bit. When asked, Love acknowledged this falloff in production:
“It’s pretty much been nonexistent,” Love said. “I’m just trying to get myself involved a little more. I don’t know. I can’t really answer that.”
One aspect of the game that Love feels the Cavs could improve on is passing. The team moved the ball well in the early stages of this season, but their passing game has regressed since. Cleveland had 16 assists in Tuesday’s loss, while Detroit had 33:
“We’re making it too easy on teams with those one-pass, two-pass or no-pass shots,” Love said.
Blake Griffin had a solid outing for the Pistons, scoring a team-high 24 points on 8-of-13 shooting from the field (6-of-7 from beyond the arc). Detroit big man Andre Drummond added 17 points and 14 rebounds.
The Cavs have dropped 10 of their last 11 games. They’ll look to snap a four-game losing streak on Friday night, when they’ll serve as hosts to the Orlando Magic. Tip-off inside Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse is set for 7:00 pm. ET.
