On Wednesday October 16th,2024, at 7pm eastern time, the Cleveland Cavaliers traveled to the Little Caesars Arena to play the Detroit Pistons for their 3rd preseason game of the 2024 season. This preseason game had the expectation of Cavaliers head coach Kenny Atkinson playing key starters more than the previous two preseason games. That did indeed happen with starters averaging over 25 minutes. But star players did not get a full games worth of minutes on the court. And it showed in the final score and the second half.

When players like Donovan Mitchell, Darius Garland, Jarrett Allen, and Evan Mobley were on the court for almost the whole first half and early in the 3rd quarter. The Cleveland Cavaliers scored 61 points in the first half alone. When they weren’t playing for most of the second half the team only scored only 31 points. That is merely half of the offensive production. One would think that if this were a regular season game, the Cavaliers starters would have played a lot more in the second half. I wouldn’t put too much stock into a preseason game loss. Even if that loss is to the Detroit Pistons. Plus, there were things to show optimism for the 2024/2025 season for the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Cavaliers Center Jarrett Allen scored 19 points and had 8 rebounds in 27 minutes of game time. On a normal game night, he would have had a double double. Donavan Mitchell and Evan Mobley each scored double digits in points in less than 25 game minutes. I am seeing excellent offensive production in the preseason from Cavaliers star players. The final product will be interesting and fun to watch when the regular season begins. And that will start Wednesday October 23rd ,2024, in Toronto Canada.