Cavaliers Face 212- and 204-Point Start Before Game 3 Home Return

The cavaliers return home for Game 3 after the first two Detroit-Cleveland games totaled 212 and 204 points. Cleveland’s four home games in the playoffs all reached at least 216 points, a sharp contrast to the first two games of this series.

Detroit-Cleveland and James Harden

James Harden came off a 10-point effort in Game 2, and Cleveland will need more from him if the series pace is going to change at home. The Cavaliers have not shot higher than 46 percent in either of the first two games, so the scoring has come in a tighter range than their home results.

Detroit had the best team shooting night of the series in Game 2, when the Pistons hit 48.8 percent from the field. That game still finished with only 204 total points, and it followed Game 1’s 212-point total after Harris opened with 20 points in the series opener.

Harris and the scoring track

Harris has stayed above that level since then. He scored 21 points in Game 2, has reached at least 20 points in each of his last seven playoff appearances, and scored 30 points in Game 7 of the first-round series against the Orlando Magic.

Those numbers set up the problem for Cleveland at home: the series has stayed low through two games, but the Cavaliers have already shown a much higher scoring range in their own building. If that pattern holds in Game 3, the total should move closer to the 216-point mark their home games have reached four times this postseason.

Cleveland's home scoring edge

The practical read for this matchup is simple. Detroit has already shown it can control the scoring enough to keep the total under the levels Cleveland has produced at home, while the Cavaliers have not yet matched their playoff home pace on the road. Game 3 now becomes the first chance for that split to show up in the same series.