NBA: Cavaliers rout Pistons despite being without star duo
Saddiq Bey #41 of the Detroit Pistons and Jarrett Allen #31 of the Cleveland Cavaliers fight over the ball during the third quarter of the game at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse on February 8, 2023 in Cleveland, Ohio. Lauren Leigh Bacho/Getty Images/AFP
Jarrett Allen finished with 20 points and 14 rebounds for his team-leading 23rd double-double of the season to lead the Cleveland Cavaliers to a 113-85 rout of the visiting Detroit Pistons on Wednesday night.
Evan Mobley added 19 points and eight rebounds for Cleveland, which won its fourth straight to continue a charge up the Eastern Conference standings.
Article continues after this advertisementBojan Bogdanovic, Detroit’s most prominent trade chip ahead of Thursday’s deadline, led the Pistons with 15 points. Jalen Duren had 14 points and nine rebounds for Detroit, which has lost five of its last six.
For the second time in three meetings with the Pistons this season, the Cavaliers were without their starting backcourt of Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland.
Mitchell sat out with left groin soreness while Garland missed the game due to a right thumb injury. Taking their place were Raul Neto and Caris LeVert. Neto matched a season high with 14 points to go along with four steals and a season-best eight assists, while LeVert finished with 15 points.
Article continues after this advertisementJarrett Allen. Look out.
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The Cavaliers didn’t miss a beat without the two star guards. Behind 11 points and four rebounds from Mobley and 10 points from Allen, the Cavaliers raced out to a 32-14 lead after one quarter. Cleveland made 14 of 23 shots from the field while Detroit converted just 6 of 20.
Bogdanovic scored all 10 of his first-half points in the second quarter as Detroit outscored Cleveland 26-19. Cleveland made just 9 of 25 shots in the period but still managed to build a 51-40 halftime lead.
The Pistons, who entered Wednesday tied with San Antonio for the second-fewest wins (14) in the NBA, rallied in the third. Alec Burks drained two free throws with 4:02 remaining in the quarter to cap a 9-0 Detroit run and cut Cleveland’s lead to 62-60.
But the Cavaliers closed out the quarter on a 14-8 run and opened the fourth quarter on a 9-0 spurt to put the game out of reach.
Following team introductions, Cleveland’s Cedi Osman, a native a Turkey, addressed the crowd in a taped announcement of support for those affected by the recent catastrophic earthquakes in his homeland.
