11 Takeaways from Cavs Game 1 loss to Pistons: James Harden’s turnovers point to larger issue

Anything bought from the links helps support *Fear the Sword*. You can find this comfortable Cuyahoga Valley National Park hoodie HERE. All of Homage’s Cavs gear can be found HERE. The additional help inside also bleeds into the shot diet. Harden took seven threes and just two shots at the rim. If the defense is crowding the paint, your only choice left is to shoot over the top. **After Game 7 against Toronto, multiple players mentioned that winning that series was a big step because this group was so new together**. That newness is seen in how they’re still figuring out how to space the floor. Harden only played with Allen and Mobley together in nine regular-season games. That number drops to four if you throw Wade into that grouping. By contrast, they’ve played twice as many playoff games together, and it’s only eight. That simply isn’t a lot of experience for a player who’s spent the better part of a decade playing in a completely different environment. **Unfortunately for Cleveland, there isn’t an easy solution for this**. They simply need at least two bigs on the court at all times, and matchups like this call for extended Wade minutes even when he isn’t providing much offensively. Max Strus had an incredible game. His shooting got the Cavs back into this one as he poured in 19 points on 13 shots. But even with that, the Cavs lost the minutes he played by nine. Single-game plus/minus isn’t always the most useful stat, but it does point to him not being asked to play an ideal role on this team. The Cavs don’t have enough defensively in lineups where Strus is asked to defend bigger threes and fours as he’s had to do in both playoff series. In Game 1, Cleveland had a dreadful 124.5 defensive rating with Strus on the court. This has been a common occurrence. Coming into Game 1, the Cavs have had a 117.1 defensive rating with Strus on in the postseason and a 104 without him. Wade has been nearly the exact opposite. This isn’t a criticism of Strus. He holds up as well as you can expect in these situations. Instead, it’s a shortcoming in the roster’s construction that he’s continually being asked to guard out of position. **This forces the Cavs to make a decision**. Do you believe an undersized defense can work so you can have better spacing? Or, do you trust Harden and Mitchell to figure things out with a cramped half-court offense? Choosing that second option makes sense. You’re just putting a lot on a point guard who’s being asked to play in a completely different context. **Mitchell’s scoring struggles compound these issues**. Mitchell once again wasn’t able to get to the rim. Only one of his 19 shots came in the restricted area. And while he did a good job of finishing the midrange floater (5-7), not driving completely to the hoop limits his ability to get to the line. Mitchell took just two free-throw attempts in Game 1. This has been a recent trend throughout the postseason. He’s only attempted over that many twice in eight playoff games. By contrast, he only registered two or fewer free-throw shots 16 times in his 70 regular-season games. Afterward, Mitchell blamed the lack of free throws on the officiating, but made sure not to go over the line to get fined. And while there’s some reason for frustration on his part, if he’s not getting to the rim, he’s simply not going to get calls. Mitchell has been forced to play in tight spaces before in the playoffs with the Cavs. However, Toronto and Detroit are easily the two best defenses he’s faced in that time — at least they are in terms of locking down the paint. **Head coach Kenny Atkinson made some head-scratching decisions**. Here’s a quick rundown of things you usually don’t see in a second-round playoff game: