Detroit Pistons head coach Stan Van Gundy wasn't happy with his own performance in a bar-measuring game against the Cleveland Cavaliers on Monday night, getting behind early and playing catch-up against an Eastern Conference monster that is just beginning to get a hold of its footing.
The Pistons fell behind in each of the first three quarters, facing a 39-point deficit entering the fourth, barely managing a 116-88 loss to the Cavs as the starters took an early rest.
“I'm upset with myself as much as anything,” Van Gundy said, according to Ansar Kahn of MLive. “Clearly, we didn't have them ready from a scheme standpoint. Unfortunately, there will be a couple more of these as the year goes on. You play really good teams and you don't play well and they play great, that's what happens.”
LeBron James proved to be the catalyst in the Cavs' offense, pouring in 16 of his 18 points in the first quarter and using the next two to share the wealth with his teammates, as the Pistons' offense never kicked into gear.
“LeBron made some tough, contested shots, threes, got himself going, got his team going and they were able to pretty much fuel off that,” said forward Tobias Harris, who led the Pistons with 11 points. “Against a good team like that, we definitely wanted to come out and have a good game, but we just couldn't get it going.”
“They moved the ball really well, were able to get to a lot of mismatches and then capitalize off them. They made shots. That's one of the toughest things in the game, when the other team is making shots, especially the way they were making them and the volume that they were shooting them. It was tough for us to really stop them.”
Despite the deflating result, Harris and company are pinning this loss as just one bad day, as the Pistons have gotten off to a 7-2 start at their new venue in Little Caesars Arena and sport one of the best records in the East, currently third with an 11-6 slate to start the young season.
Follow Us
Subscribe