Winners and Losers: Cavs vs Pistons Game 6 – Detroit claws to keep their season alive

LOSER – The Force Battle

Big games can be decided on the margins. Especially in an evenly-contested matchup like this one. The Cavs have stressed the importance of winning the possession battle in each game. But all of that is easier said than done. In a case of Deja Vu, first-half turnovers put the Cavs in a hole. 13 turnovers led to 15 points for the Pistons. That’s the type of stuff you can’t concede to a team that is fighting for its life. They’ll claw for every last opportunity. You can’t make it easy for them. James Harden had 8 turnovers while Donovan Mitchell added three more. Dennis Schroder coughed it up three times in his first six minutes. The guards can’t be this loose with the ball. Not if you want to win. Fortunately, the Cavs managed to force turnovers of their own. Cleveland finished with 20 turnovers while Detroit had 17. That kept them in it for most of the game, and they managed to snag 16 offensive rebounds to further cut into the gap. Still, Cleveland allowed the Pistons to salvage a handful of possessions that should have been defensive stops. Cade Cunningham, in particular, converted on multiple three-point attempts off of second-chance opportunities. Detroit claimed 13 offensive rebounds of its own. By the end of the night, the Pistons took five more shots than the Cavs and beat them 48-26 in the paint. Their force and physicality won out.

LOSER – Dennis Schroder

I don’t want to pile on the third-string point guard. The contributions Schroder gave in Game 5 versus Toronto should have made the rest of his postseason bulletproof. But… the Cavs have continued to lean on him way past the point of no return. Again, Schroder is the third-best guard on the roster. There’s no reason he should be carrying as much usage as he did, particularly in the third quarter when Donovan Mitchell was alongside him, and Ausar Thompson was on the bench. Those are the minutes that Mitchell needs to hit the ground running and score in bunches. Instead, Schroder bricked a three-pointer and was swatted on a layup attempt while Mitchell spaced the floor away from the ball. There’s only so much that Schroder is supposed to give this team. In the biggest moments, Harden and Mitchell should be the ones determining the game. It was a bizarre decision to lean on Schroder for 15 minutes as he went 0-4 from the field and finished with as many turnovers as assists.