{"id":729400,"date":"2026-05-09T02:00:32","date_gmt":"2026-05-09T02:00:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/729400\/"},"modified":"2026-05-09T02:00:32","modified_gmt":"2026-05-09T02:00:32","slug":"cavs-vs-pistons-game-3-how-to-watch-odds-and-injury-report-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/729400\/","title":{"rendered":"Cavs vs. Pistons Game 3: How to watch, odds, and injury report"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Cleveland Cavaliers<\/a> have played awfully through the first two games of the series. The guards haven\u2019t lived up to their standards, the defensive communication hasn\u2019t been good, and the team is simply missing wide-open shots. That isn\u2019t going to get the job done on the road against a 60-win Detroit Pistons<\/a> team.<\/p>\n

Yet, despite how bad things have looked, the Cavs had chances to steal both Game 1 and 2. The Cavs were either tied or had a brief lead in the fourth quarter in each outing, but poor late-game execution cost them. We\u2019ll see if that changes as the series shifts back to Cleveland.<\/p>\n

Advertisement<\/p>\n

Technically, this isn\u2019t a must-win game. The season isn\u2019t over if the Cavs drop this game. However, no team has come back from a 3-0 deficit in NBA history. We\u2019ll see if the Cavs have what it takes to get off the mat and keep their season alive.<\/p>\n

Support us and Let \u2018Em Know with Homage!<\/a>\"\"<\/p>\n

Anything bought from the links helps support Fear the Sword. You can also shop all of Homage\u2019s Cavs gear HERE<\/a>. The link to the 2016 championship shirt HERE<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Who:\u00a0Cleveland Cavaliers<\/a> (0-2) vs. Detroit Pistons<\/a> (2-0)<\/p>\n

Where: Rocket Arena \u2013 Cleveland<\/a>, OH<\/p>\n

When: Sat., May 9 at 3 PM<\/p>\n

TV: NBC, Peacock<\/p>\n

Point spread: Cavs -4.5<\/p>\n

Cavs injury report: Sam Merrill<\/a>, \u2013 QUESTIONABLE (hamstring)<\/p>\n

Pistons injury report: Kevin Huerter<\/a> \u2013 DOUBTFUL (abductor strain)<\/p>\n

Cavs expected starting lineup: James Harden<\/a>, Donovan Mitchell, Max Strus, Evan Mobley<\/a>, Jarrett Allen<\/a><\/p>\n

Pistons expected starting lineup: Cade Cunningham<\/a>, Duncan Robinson<\/a>, Ausar Thompson<\/a>, Tobias Harris<\/a>, Jalen Duren<\/a><\/p>\n

Previous matchup: The Cavs fell apart down the stretch of Game 2 in a way that felt all too familiar<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s a look at both teams\u2019 regular-season impact stats via Cleaning the Glass<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Offensive Rating<\/p>\n

Defensive Rating<\/p>\n

Net Rating<\/p>\n

Cavs<\/p>\n

118.9 (8th)<\/p>\n

115 (15th)<\/p>\n

+3.9 (9th)<\/p>\n

Pistons<\/p>\n

118.3 (10th)<\/p>\n

109.5 (2nd)<\/p>\n

+8.8 (3rd)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Cleveland Cavaliers have played awfully through the first two games of the series. The guards haven\u2019t lived…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":729401,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3773],"tags":[1026,7,909,305,193,296,188,3860,864,4958,576,912,560,1178,4103,872,6,297,1166,933],"class_list":["post-729400","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-detroit-pistons","tag-ausar-thompson","tag-basketball","tag-cade-cunningham","tag-cleveland","tag-cleveland-cavaliers","tag-detroit","tag-detroit-pistons","tag-detroitpistons","tag-donovan-mitchell","tag-duncan-robinson","tag-evan-mobley","tag-jalen-duren","tag-james-harden","tag-jarrett-allen","tag-kevin-huerter","tag-max-strus","tag-nba","tag-pistons","tag-sam-merrill","tag-tobias-harris"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116542153343537772","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/729400","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=729400"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/729400\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/729401"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=729400"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=729400"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=729400"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}