Allen, Mobley power Cavaliers to 113-85 win over Pistons
Jarrett Allen scored 20 points, Evan Mobley added 19 and the Cleveland Cavaliers won their fourth straight game, 11385 over the Detroit Pistons on Wednesday night despite resting their starting backcourt.
All-Star starter Donovan Mitchell (groin) and Darius Garland (thumb) got the night off to heal some nagging injuries and the Cavs barely missed their top guards, who average a combined 48.8 points.
With Allen and Mobley doing inside damage and combining for 21 points, Cleveland built an 18-point lead after one quarter.
The Pistons hung around and got within two in the third before the Cavs opened the fourth by outscoring Detroit 26-4 over the first seven minutes to put it away.
“Jarrett did a great job of setting the tone,” Cavs coach J.B. Bickerstaff said. “There was a bunch of extra-effort plays that he made where he was just outworking
the guy in front of him. He was able to get offensive rebounds, his teammates were finding him in the paint.
“And the same thing with Evan. They had opportunities to attack and were extremely aggressive.”
Allen added 14 rebounds as the Cavs outrebounded the Pistons 48-32 and held them to their lowest point total this season.
“These type of games
are butt-kicking contests because they play physical offense,” Pistons coach Dwane Casey said. “It was a great game for us to feel, to taste, to go up against a hard-nosed, physical playoff team.”
Bojan Bogdanovic scored 15 and rookie Jalen Duren 14 for Detroit. The Pistons have dropped nine of 11 and have the worst record (1442) in the Eastern Conference.