10 Takeaways from Cavs Game 4 win over Pistons: Cleveland shows they can match Detroit’s physicality

CLEVELAND — Donovan Mitchell chased Detroit Pistons sharpshooter Duncan Robinson around screens to the baseline corner late in the second quarter. Mitchell beat Robinson to the spot and bumped him straight into his own bench as a punishment for making him work so hard defensively. Isaiah Stewart was a few steps away and gave Mitchell a light shove after seeing what happened. Mitchell looked up and then returned the favor before continuing to chase Robinson around the perimeter.

Before the Cleveland Cavaliers’ 116-109 Game 3 win over the Pistons, head coach Kenny Atkinson said that he wanted his team to adapt to Detroit’s physicality and what the referees are allowing. Plays like that show what he meant.

Basketball games aren’t always won by the more physical team. It’s a contact sport that rewards size and strength, but the outcome is ultimately decided by who puts the ball through the hoop more consistently.

That said, in a series like this, doing so is much easier if you’re able to get into the paint and create from there.

The Cavs couldn’t do that in the first two games of this series. The offense was stagnant, often relying on the guards to create against a set defense. And when the ball did get kicked out to the perimeter for open threes, the shots weren’t falling, as is often the case for an offense that is moving side-to-side instead of north and south.

The Cavs were the aggressors in Game 3. They completed more of their shots in the restricted area and were able to get to the free-throw line more consistently. Both are things they weren’t able to do throughout the first two games of the series.

This was most true for Mitchell. He went 6-8 on shots at the rim after taking just one there combined in the first two games. A renewed focus on getting downhill woke up what was a dormant Cavs’ offense.

There was a level of decisiveness from Mitchell that wasn’t in the first two games. Instead of trying to probe the defense for openings in an effort to look for a perfect shot, he attacked whenever he had any sliver of daylight. This included pushing his advantage in semi-transition off missed shots and turnovers.

Here’s six baskets that Mitchell was able to get by just simply carrying his momentum from the backcourt into the front court. That accounts for nearly half of his made field goals.

These aren’t fast-break or transition baskets, but they might as well have been from an efficiency standpoint. Mitchell is one of the most difficult players to stop when he has a head of steam. That allowed him to more easily showcase the skills that make him one of the most dominant scoring guards in the league for years.

Detroit’s defense is tough for a 6’2” guard to crack. We know that Mitchell can be lethal with his jumpshot, even though he’s struggled with that through three games. Getting downhill in semi-transition like this offsets some of those concerns. It’s why he was able to get an efficient 35 points in a game the Cavs desperately needed to win.

Max Strus provided several things the Cavs desperately needed. His energy and effort changed the game defensively. Strus forced several turnovers, including an incredible steal off a Cade Cunningham inbound pass that led to a critical two points the other way to break a 104-104 tie.

Plays like that encapsulate who Strus is as a player, and why he’s so valuable to the team.

“There’s just so many things he does that don’t show up in the box score,” Mitchell said.

One of those things is screen setting. The Pistons turned the momentum around in the second half by switching more ball screens, similar to what the Toronto Raptors did in the first round. This stalled out Cleveland’s offense at the start of the third quarter before it got going again in the fourth.

Strus’s ability to set hard picks helped get the offense going. The Pistons tried to hide their weakest defender, Duncan Robinson, on Strus. Solid screens forced Detroit to switch, allowing James Harden to get one of his several closing baskets against the matchup he wanted.

You can’t see the screen in this video, but this mismatch doesn’t happen without it.

This showed us what the best version of the Mitchell and Harden backcourt could be. Harden said it was a “small dose” of their full potential afterward, and you could see why.

Mitchell had it going throughout, but he deferred to Harden in the high-leverage moments to get the job done. Harden delivered by knocking down clutch baskets on three-straight possessions, including the game-sealing three over Tobias Harris.

Harden brought them over the finish line, scoring nine points in the fourth quarter, but had just 10 points leading up to it. He had 10 fewer shots than Mitchell overall and wans’t the main focus of the offense.

It’s a different role than what we’ve seen from Harden over the past decade, but one he’s completely embraced because he knows what life is like for Mitchell — the guy forced to carry the fate of the team on his shoulders.

“I talked to Don a few times today, and it’s like, “All right, if you ever feel like tired or you need [a break], you know, I’m available,” Harden said. “I understand what that feels like when you’re that age, and you’re used to scoring 30 points and you know you’re the guy. So, you got to pick and choose and find your spots where you want to take them and where you want to just let them go. … Tonight was one of those cases where he looked like he needed a break, and he called on my number.”

Mitchell and Harden are very different players, but have run into similar roadblocks during their careers. Their playing style has led to incredible regular-season success, but neither has achieved the playoff team success their talent would lead you to believe they should.

Few can relate to the internal weight and frustration Mitchell has felt from playoff losses more than Harden. If they’re going to break through together, it will be due to performances like this.

“I am who I am, he is who he is, but that what makes us so dynamic,” Mitchell said. “Having a trust in him and vice versa is why those moments happen.”

The Cavs passed the test in Game 3. They responded with the physicality they needed to make this series competitive again. They know how to and can beat this team. Now, they just need to show that they can meet that physicality consistently, and not just once every couple of games.

“At the end of the day, it’s just 2-1,” Mitchell said. “We’ve got to find a way to win Game 4. … We’ve got another opportunity to play in front of the greatest fans in the league. Hopefully, we get another one.”