Darius Garland matched his season high with 21 points and Cedi Osman added 17 as the Cleveland Cavaliers cruised to a 98-78 victory over the visiting Detroit Pistons on Friday.
Evan Mobley had 16 points and seven rebounds for Cleveland, which shot 47.6 percent from the field and led by as many as 27 in the fourth quarter. Jarrett Allen added 11 points and seven rebounds.
The Cavaliers’ 8-5 mark is the team’s best start since 2016-17.
Detroit committed 23 turnovers and lost for the ninth time in 11 games. Jerami Grant scored 16 points while Frank Jackson had 12 and Josh Jackson added 11.
Cleveland opened the second quarter on a 20-9 run and took a 17-point lead on Garland’s layup with 4:53 left. Garland had 12 points in the first half for the Cavaliers, who shot 50 percent and scored 20 points off Detroit’s 13 turnovers to lead 52-41 at the break.
Garland scored eight points in the first quarter and the Cavaliers led 24-18 after capitalizing on eight Detroit turnovers.
Cleveland took control early in the third quarter and took a commanding 64-43 lead on Isaac Okoro’s dunk with just under six minutes left in the period.
Okoro tallied nine points and nine rebounds for the Cavaliers, who bounced back after having their four-game winning streak snapped in Wednesday’s 97-94 loss to the Washington Wizards.
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Garland hit one of his four 3-pointers at the end of the third quarter to push the Cavaliers’ lead to 74-52. The guard also finished with seven assists.
The Pistons, who were held to 11 points in the third, shot 36.7 percent from the field for the contest and 9 of 30 (30 percent) from 3-point range.
Killian Hayes recorded five points, six rebounds, five assists and six steals for the Pistons.
Detroit played without forward Kelly Olynyk, who suffered an MCL sprain in his left knee in Wednesday’s win over the Houston Rockets and will be sidelined for at least six weeks.
Cleveland forward Lamar Stevens exited the game in the first quarter with a right ankle sprain and did not return.
–Field Level Media