Commentary: Don't count on a Cavaliers victory in Game 7

For those scoring at home ... The Cavs were outscored by two points in the first quarter. By one point in the second quarter. By 11 points in the third quarter. By 7 points in the fourth quarter. And by 21 points in the game overall. Final score: Coach Bickerstaff's current team 115, Coach Bickerstaff's former team 94. Game 7 will be played Sunday in Detroit. You can either watch the game on TV, or go for a walk. Coach J.B. Bickerstaff probably prefers that you stick around, so he can wink at you at the end of Game 7 and the end of the Cavs' season. That's right, it's all over but the end-of-Game-7 handshakes. On Friday night the Cavs met their match, which wasn't much. Final score: Pistons 115, Cavs 94. What's that old saying? It ain't over until it's over? Yeah, well, guess what? It says here that it's over. Game 7 will be played in Detroit's gym, so don't hold your breath. That's because the Pistons are pretty much better than the Cavs in any of the categories you would like to debate. J.B.'s former team, it says here, will likely be vanquished, once and for all, by J.B.'s current team. Because this is the way these kind of dynamics tend to unfold. In a Game 7 situation, typically, the team that needs to win the game the most is the team that ends up winning the game. The Pistons are the home team and the No. 1 seed. In this case, the other team is the Cavs, who are a solid NBA team, with an ample amount of talent. But playoff basketball frequently follows a different path when the stakes are the highest. Take Friday night's game, for example. The Cavs beat the Pistons in Game 5, which would've seemed to bode well for the Fighting Atkinsons. Ah, but not so fast! Because, again, in this case, the team that needs to win a given postseason game the most tends to win that game. That kind of basketball logic is well-known. In this series, the Cavs desperately needed to win Game 5, and they did, 117-113. Hooray for Cleveland, right? Wrong. In sports, it isn't over until it's over. The Cavs lost Game 6 115-94. So now there is only one game left in this series, and it won't be played in Cleveland. It will be played in Detroit, against a Pistons team that is physically superior to the Cleveland team. (Feel free to gulp here). The Cavs' inability to physically compete with some of the other teams in the NBA has long been a burr in Cleveland's saddle. The Cavs traditionally have trouble keeping up with some of the musclemen who roam the paint during games, especially if they are playoff games. That's where the Cavs are: trying to win a playoff game with a lack of physicality that is going to make it very difficult. If you watched Game 6, you got an extended look at a Detroit team that looks more like a football team. That's bad news for the Cavs, who are in trouble whenever they have to physically challenge or compete against teams with large men flashing impressive muscles. That, in turn, puts the Cavs at an extreme disadvantage. Again, if you watched Game 6, the physical comparison between the Cavs and the Pistons was not just dramatic, but at times frightening. Let's put it this way: In most Cavs games, the players with the best chance to compete physically with the opposing team's musclemen are Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen. Neither of the Cavs' so-called "big men" are, in fact, literally "big men." They are tall, yes. But they are not built like many of the dinosaurs who roam the paint on any given night during an NBA game. Mobley and Allen struggle to hold their own against big men playing behemoth ball. It invariably turns into somewhat of a lost cause. Detroit's muscle factory is a load in itself for Cavs big men to gain an advantage. The Cavs' lack of bulk has been an ongoing issue when it comes to being able to hold their own in the paint. It has happened repeatedly in this series, to the detriment of Kenny's Kids. On the other hand, stranger things have happened. I'll let you know when I think of one. Contact Jim Ingraham at jingraham4@gmail.com.