The Cleveland Cavaliers finally turned their first-round matchup in the 2016 NBA Playoffs into the blowout many expected it would be all along. The Cavs took control in the second half to hand the Pistons a 107-90 loss in Game 2 on Wednesday, sending the series back to Detroit with a 2-0 series lead.
Pistons vs. Cavaliers 2016 results: Cleveland delivers second-half knockout punch to go up 2-0
The Cavs took care of business on their home floor again in Game 2.
Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports
Ricky O'Donnell has covered basketball at all levels for more than a decade at SB Nation. He’s currently the Associate Director of Programming.
This game didn’t always look like it was going to be an easy victory for Cleveland. The Pistons led by five with 9:12 remaining in the third quarter, but the Cavs went on to outscore Detroit 25-8 over the remainder of the period. The game was never close after that.
The Cavs were on fire from three-point range throughout the night. Cleveland went 20-of-38 from behind the arc (52.6 percent), which is tied for the most threes in NBA playoff history. J.R. Smith was the role player to step up for Cleveland, finishing with 21 points on 7-of-11 shooting from deep.
After a hard-fought win in Game 1, the Cavaliers left little doubt they’re the vastly superior team by turning it on in the second half of Game 2. Here’s what we learned in Cleveland’s win:
LeBron looks impossibly spry
LeBron James is only 31 years old, but he has a lot of mileage on his legs. He’s played 13 full NBA seasons. He’s competed in the Olympics three times. And for the last five seasons, he’s dragged his team to the NBA Finals.
If James keeps playing like he is right now, that streak will be extended one more year. James led the Cavs with 27 points in Game 2 on 12-of-18 shooting, and he added six rebounds, three steals and three assists for good measure.
It’s not just that LeBron is packing the box score, it’s how he looks doing it. The man looks downright vivacious at the moment.
Good luck, Detroit. With LeBron playing like this, the Pistons will need it.
Cleveland is hot from three-point range -- and needs to stay that way
The Cavs are shooting the heck out of the ball right now. After making 12 threes in Game 1, Cleveland knocked down 20 triples in Game 2. J.R. Smith made seven, Kyrie Irving made four, Kevin Love made three, even LeBron knocked down a pair.
It helps when ‘Bron is setting everyone up:
This Cavs team made 880 threes during the regular season -- the fifth most in NBA history. It’s a team full of quality passers and skilled shooters. As long as their shots are falling, it’s going to be extremely difficult for anyone in the East to stop them.
Pistons ain’t scared
We’ll say this for the Pistons: for seven of the eight periods in this series so far, this certainly did not look like a No. 1 vs. No. 8 matchup.
Detroit has size at every position on the floor, they have developing shooters and promising defenders. They have an anchor in the middle in Andre Drummond, still only 22 years old and already racking up rebounds at a historic rate.
The Pistons aren’t ready yet, but in time this team would appear to be very promising. Stan Van Gundy has reworked the roster over the last two years and it’s easy to see this group growing together into an Eastern Conference contender over the next few seasons.
When Reggie Jackson and Tobias Harris get more comfortable in big moments, when 19-year-old wing Stanley Johnson comes into his own and when Van Gundy has more time to fine tune the roster, the Pistons could be a problem. If nothing else, this is a quality learning experience for a young team.
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