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CLEVELAND — The Cleveland Cavaliers had many chances to defeat the Detroit Pistons last Friday, even though they were without their two star guards, James Harden (thumb) and Donovan Mitchell (groin). The Cavs failed to close the game out at the free-throw line, and they couldn’t hold on to a late lead in regulation.
Despite the loss, there was reason for optimism after Friday’s game. This led to an anonymous Cavs player telling Chris Fedor of cleveland.com that the Pistons “aren’t in our class.”
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Pistons head coach J.B. Bickerstaff was asked about those comments before the two teams’ rematch on Tuesday and wasn’t impressed.
“I have no response,” Bickerstaff said about the report before providing a response.
“If you mean it, you don’t say it anonymously.”
Bickerstaff does have a point. Comments like a team isn’t in your class don’t exactly come across as strongly as they should if someone isn’t willing to put their name to it.
Even though the short-handed Cavs were in a position to defeat the conference leaders, they didn’t on Friday. Additionally, the Pistons didn’t feel like they played up to their skill level in that matchup.
“We didn’t play our best basketball the other night,” Bickerstaff said. “We need to impose ourselves on the game a little bit more than we did last game. I thought the last two quarters of the Orlando game are the best quarters we’ve played defensively since New York. I hope our guys can continue to build off that, because that’s where it all starts for us.”
There’s a decent chance that the Cavs and Pistons meet in the playoffs. Considering that most of Detroit’s coaching staff was previously with Cleveland a few seasons ago, there’s plenty of familiarity. And familiarity often breeds contempt.