The Cleveland Cavaliers (6-1, 6-1 ATS) will go to the Little Caesars Arena on Friday evening to take on the Detroit Pistons (2-7, 4-5 ATS) in an Eastern Conference matchup. The Cavaliers are on a five-game winning streak after a 114-113 overtime home win against the Boston Celtics on Wednesday while the Pistons are on a two-game losing streak after a 116-91 road loss against the Milwaukee Bucks on Wednesday.

They have been playing well as they are sixth in the NBA with 117.1 points per game, which has a lot of people pointing at Donovan Mitchell’s stepping up to the next level with this young roster. In their last game, Cleveland had point guard Darius Garland from an eye injury after missing five games and scored 29 points and was excited to be back on the hardwood.

The 6-1 Cleveland Cavaliers have been a force defensively as they are fifth in basketball with 106.7 points per game up to this point and are holding teams to 45.1 percent from the floor. Center Jarrett Allen has been stepping up as he is fifth in the NBA with 12 rebounds per game while also adding 1.1 blocks. If they can continue dominating as well as they have been to begin the season, it will be a huge plus to their confidence as the season continues on.

The Detroit Pistons have been struggling when looking at their record sitting at 2-7. They need to be better at scoring as they are 25th in the sport with 109.4 points while shooting just 34.2 percent from beyond the arc. A huge positive is that they are third in the NBA with 27.2 free-throw attempts, which means they are drawing fouls throughout the game. Point guard Cade Cunningham has been doing well as he is averaging 21.7 points and 6.4 assists per game this season. 

Their defense has been struggling as they are the fourth-worst in the NBA with 119.7 points per game allowed. However, that does not mean that individual players are not doing well as guys like rookie center Jalen Duren are doing well down low as he is averaging 6.7 rebounds and 1.3 blocks per game up to this point of the year. If they can figure things out how to step up and make some defensive stops while they try to gel with a young roster.