Cavaliers beat Pistons 113-101 in Bickerstaff’s return to Cleveland

CLEVELAND (AP) — Donovan Mitchell and Dean Wade each scored 19 points to lead Cleveland to a 113-101 home win over the Detroit Pistons and former Cavaliers coach Jay Bickerstaff on Friday night.

Jarrett Allen added 17 and 11 rebounds as the Cavs won their 10th straight over the Pistons, giving new coach Kenny Atkinson a win in his home debut and a 2-0 start.

Bickerstaff received a mixed reaction from fans upon his return after being fired after last season despite leading the Cavs to the Eastern Conference semifinals.

Cade Cunningham scored 33 and Jayden Ivey had 22 for the Pistons. They were still within eight in the fourth quarter when Wade hit back-to-back 3-pointers with 31 seconds left to put the Cavs up 105-91 with 6:17 left. left.

Takeout

Pistons: More positive signs as Detroit played its second straight game but fell short. The Pistons only won 14 games last season, but Bickerstaff has some good key pieces to develop.

Cavaliers: For the second straight game, they were outplayed by an underdog. It’s been a solid start under Atkinson, who is still playing with rotations as he learns more about his team.

The key point

Cavaliers backup Ty Jerome provided a huge spark off the bench with 10 points and three assists in eight minutes as Cleveland took control in the first half, going on a 13-4 run to go up by 10. Jerome played in just two games last season due to a serious ankle injury. The Cavs raved about him during camp, with general manager Koby Altman calling him “September’s best player,” and Atkinson already has him in the rotation.

Key statistics

Cunningham was guilty of trying to do too much at times and committed a career-high nine turnovers.

Further

The Pistons head home to host the NBA champion Boston Celtics on Saturday, while the Cavaliers travel to Washington on Saturday.