Pistons vs. Cavaliers preview: The King’s reign isn’t over yet as Cavs visit Detroit

The Pistons return home to take on the Cleveland Cavaliers before heading back out on the road where they’ll spend six of their next seven games.

At 9-7 (winners of four straight), the Cavs are treading water while waiting for everyone to get healthy. Currently, Tristan Thompson, Derrick Rose and the fake Isaiah Thomas are in street clothes while Iman Shumpert is logging minutes but hobbled with a sore knee.

Their secret ain’t rocket science:

Game Vitals

When: November 20th at 7 p.m. EST

Where: Little Caesars Arena - Detroit, MI

Watch: Fox Sports Detroit (League Pass)

Analysis

Love him (me) or hate him (you, probably), you’ve got to respect him.

LeBron James is weeks away from turning 33 years old yet remains as impactful as ever. Almost 39 minutes per game has generated 29 points, eight and half assists and nearly eight rebounds per game all with remarkable efficiency.

Forget PEDs, I want him tested for possibly being an alien although a positive result would yield no reaction out of me.

There is no strategic scouting for James as the best you can hope for is that he misses or that he’s still thinking about the Jay-Z concert.

Force him to shoot three-pointers? Well, he’s connecting at a 40-percent clip this year.

Make him drive? He’s shooting nearly 80-percent on attempts from less than five feet.

Thomas Jefferson lied when he said “all men are created equal.”

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Kevin Love has given Detroit headaches throughout his ten-year career for a variety of reasons and now we can add another variable to the mix:

It’s still early but no other Cavalier has assisted on more of James’ buckets than Love.

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Cleveland outlasted the visiting Los Angeles Clippers 118-113 (OT) in their last game but had no answer for DeAndre Jordan who finished with 20 points and 22 rebounds.

Jordan did Jordan things which holds a strong resemblance to Drummond things.

With Thompson out, there is no one on the Cavs’ roster who can bang, bump, beat up or box out Andre Drummond on a continuous basis.

Will he impose his will?

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How’d that guy get so open?

In Cleveland’s case, the answer is probably because of Kyle Korver.

A noted marksmen, his three-point gravity isn’t the only thing generating open looks for his teammates. Do yourself a favor and follow him off-ball tonight, you won’t be disappointed.

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Projected Lineup

Cleveland

Iman Shumpert, JR Smith, Kevin Love, LeBron James, Jae Crowder

Detroit

Reggie Jackson, Avery Bradley, Andre Drummond, Tobias Harris, Stanley Johnson

Prediction

The second night of a traveling back-to-back is never fun, however, Detroit is 7-1 behind the quarter-full LCA crowd this year and I don’t see that changing.

Cavs 100, Pistons 104