Commentary: Cavaliers lose winnable game, and may live to regret it

The worst part of it all is that the Cavs lost a winnable game. Winnable games don't come around too often, so when you bump into one, and have a chance to win it, do yourself a favor: Win it. Tuesday night in Detroit, the Cavs bumped into a winnable game, and their response was this: nothing. Pistons 111, Cavs 101. The Cavs were unable to win a winnable game, so the Pistons and former Cavs coach J.B. Bickerstaff said "thank you!" That's right, 1s were wild in the Motor City, and it cost the Cavs dearly. They could have woken up Wednesday morning with a one-game lead over the feisty Pistons, who are a very good team. And if you don't believe it, well, in the third quarter the Cavs were losing by 17 points. They caught up to the home team but couldn't pass it, despite the fact that coach Kenny Atkinson's team gifted Coach Bickerstaff's team 18 points in the third quarter. Kids: Don't try this at home. That is no way to win a quarter, much less an entire game. So the Cavs woke up lamenting their miserable showing in the first game of the Eastern Conference semifinals. You can't win 'em all, but you can win an occasional game if you play smart, tough basketball. The Cavs were staring at a winnable game Tuesday night, but instead settled for a losable one. It was your basic "Ouch!" giveaway defeat that should not have happened, but it happened anyway. The Cavs had all kinds of trouble trying to not play bad basketball. You don't believe it? Here's some evidence for you to digest: In the first half the Cavs lost 20 — count 'em — 20 points off turnovers. That is hard to do, but the Cavs pulled it off. Another eyesore: Jarrett Allen only played six minutes in the first half due to fouls. For much of the game the Cavs were their own worst enemies, which makes things difficult when trying to win a winnable game. If you remember the Cavs' series-clinching win over the Toronto Raptors a couple of days ago, you wouldn't recognize the loss to Detroit on Tuesday, because on Tuesday the Cavs were a mess An un-winnable mess. For example, Allen, the people's choice in the Game 7 victory over Toronto, was a nonentity in Detroit. The deeper the teams got into the game, the worse the Cavs played. It was at times a winnable, inexplicable game that became more baffling the longer it went. Too many times the Cavs, inexplicably, were their own worst enemy. They were unable to rev their engines and win a winnable game. So now their options are growing more limited by the day. Allen was tagged with his fourth foul halfway through the third quarter. That did nothing to accelerate the Cavs offense or defense. To the contrary, it seemed to baffle the Fighting Atkinsons even more. The Pistons, on the other hand, were the picture of winnable-ness. The closer the teams got to the finish line, the better the Pistons played and the worse the Cavs played. If there is a saving grace it's that the Cavs' stinker came in the first game of the series. There is still plenty of time for the Cavs to regroup, rethink and reattack. There is no need to hit the panic button. Not yet, anyway. There will be plenty of time for that later. For now, the Cavs have to go back to their drawing board and figure out how not to lose winnable games. They can start, perhaps, by giving James Harden, who is looking older with each successive airball, a crash course on how to hang onto the ball and win a winnable game. The Cavs had their moments, but not enough of them. They were presented with a winnable game, and turned it into a losable one. That's what hurts the most, and that is what needs to be addressed before the team fails again by losing a winnable game. Contact Jim Ingraham at (440) 329-7135 or jingraham4@gmail.com.