CLEVELAND, OH — The Pistons overcame Kevin Love’s big night and rallied back from a 15-point deficit to beat the Cavaliers 115-113 on Tuesday night at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse.
Derrick Rose made a 10-foot floater with 26 second remaining to secure the victory for Detroit. He had 24 points for the Pistons.
The Cavaliers had a chance to take the lead in the closing seconds, but Collin Sexton's floater came up short.
The decision to go to Sexton and not Love was a questionable one and something head coach John Beilein acknowledged after the game.
“We wanted to get him (Sexton) up in a high pick and roll, spread the floor,” Beilein said. “He’s good at getting fouled and there’s a lot of ways you can win the game. Hindsight now, you look back at it, maybe trying to get it into the post with Kevin (Love)."
Love finished with 30 points, nine rebounds and four assists. He scored 21 points and made four 3-pointers in the second half. Love finished 12-of-15 from the floor. His 30 points tied his season-high.
“The coaching staff is not dumb on this,” Beilein said when asked about Love's involvement in the offense. “We want to put him in the best situations we can for him to be successful. I think we did that a lot today, and he did a great job with it. You don’t like to waste that effort that he had today without a W. So, yeah I’ll be second-guessing myself for a long time.”
The Cavaliers were in control for most of the night. They went on a 15-4 run to start the second quarter to take command of the game. The Cavaliers only scored five points in the first 6:34 of the fourth quarter, which opened the door for a Pistons’ rally.
Andre Drummond was dominant all night for Detroit, finishing with 22 points, 20 rebounds and five assists.
Sexton had 20 points for the Cavs. Rookie point guard Darius Garland finished with 14 points, four rebounds and three assists.
Dante Exum (illness) didn't play due to flu-like symptoms. The Cavs were also without Kevin Porter Jr. (knee) and Larry Nance Jr. (knee).
The Cavaliers fall to 10-27 on the season. They've lost five straight games.
Double-T Climbing
Tristan Thompson passed Roy Hinson for the 6th-most blocks in Cavs’ history. He has 431 career blocks. Thompson finished the night with eight points, 14 rebounds, four assists and two blocks.
Up Next
The Cavaliers head to Detroit for a Thursday night rematch against the Pistons.
