Top takeaways from the Cavaliers preseason finale win against Pistons

After what looked to be a miserable upcoming season for the Cleveland Cavaliers, the team pulled out an 18-point win vs the Detroit Pistons.

A definite bounce back from the rough loss to the Boston Celtics on Sunday. Donovan Mitchell led the team in scoring in the win with 17 points with 3 steals to go with it.

Sam Merrill also made his return to the lineup for the finale. He also let the media know what the concerns were in his injury and that he is ready for the season.

De’Andre Hunter injury update

The first big takeaway from this game is that the injury scare for De’Andre Hunter is not serious. He was removed from the game as a precaution according to Chris Fedor.

Hunter's injury being more serious would have added to the already long term injuries of Darius Garland and Max Strus. Thankfully, Hunter stated that he thinks he will be all set for the start of the regular season. 

Lonzo Ball's positive performance

Last night, Lonzo Ball showed his potential in this Cavaliers lineup. With his minutes restriction for the season holding him to a set amount of time, he showed up in his time. 

Ball only scored nine points, but he is not expected to join this team and take over offensively. Ball had 9 assists and 3 blocks to add to his tallies for the game. He took 5 shots and made 3 with 2 of them being from 3.

Kenny Atkinson had plenty of positive takeaways to say about that performance from Ball and his role in the team.

Overall defensive pressure

In their win, Cleveland held Detroit to just 8-24 from the three-point line. Holding them to such a poor shooting night gives the Cavs the potential to show that No. 1 defense the team had not too long ago.

13 steals and 11 blocks with 24 forced turnovers was their best performance since the first preseason game when they lost to Chicago by one point. 

Evan Mobley made up three of the team's blocks and two steals. Jarrett Allen added two blocks and a steal and adding Ball’s three blocks as the players on the team with multiple blocks. Craig Porter Jr. collected two steals himself with nine of the 14 players that touched the court having a steal.

The Cavaliers led by as many as 20 points in the game and had an outstanding start to the game scoring 42 points in the first quarter to Detroit's 31. The team's tempo may have been the biggest positive that coach Kenny Atkinson should be proud of.

This win was important for the team after seeing Kenny Atkinson in the post game presser after the win.