Cavs' Tristan Thompson, Matthew Dellavedova unsung heroes in Game 3

Cavaliers coach Tyronn Lue exalts the play of Tristan Thompson and likes his team's three-point shooting after the 101-91 win over the Pistons in Game 3 at the Palace on Friday. Video by Marlowe Alter/DFP Videolicious

Thompson grabbed eight offensive rebounds; Delly had 12 points and five assists off the bench

(Photo: Kirthmon F. Dozier DFP)

As usual, Lebron James, Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love are netting all the headlines from Friday night, and they should.

The Cleveland Cavaliers’ “Big Three” combined for 66 points in their 101-91 win over the Detroit Pistons at the Palace in Game 3 of this first-round playoff matchup.

Sure, the “Big Three” remained the driving force in giving the Cavs a 3-0 lead and a chance to sweep the Pistons on Sunday in Game 4. They scored 81 of their team's 106 points in Game 1, and 65 points out of 107 in Game 2. Cavs coach Tyronn Lue said this stretch has "been the best I’ve seen them play all three together."

But it was the play of two unsung players -- the same two who were incredible during Cleveland’s run to the 2015 NBA Finals -- that titled the scales towards the Cavs.

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Matthew Dellavedova (12 points and five assists in 16 minutes) and Tristan Thompson (eight points, 10 rebounds and two blocks) ripped the Pistons’ hearts out. Dellavedova did it with smart play in the pick-and-roll with James. Thompson waned Detroit's spirits with key offensive rebounds.

“(Thompson) has been our X-factor,” Love said. “He continues to play hard, he brings it every single night. I just try to feed off his energy, I think we all do. There’s a lot of stuff that he does and Shump (Iman Shumpert) does and guys throughout our entire team that don’t show necessarily show up in the stat sheet, but every single night they’re making the difference.”

Thompson, who broke out by averaging 5.3 offensive boards in six games in the 2015 NBA Finals against Golden State, scored two points in Game 1 and battled foul trouble while playing just 13 minutes in Game 2. Entering Game 3, he had seven rebounds (five offensive) in 44 minutes in this series.

Thompson was fantastic throughout Game 3, but he was especially effective late in both halves.

With under two minutes left in the first half, he corralled offensive boards on consecutive possessions, leading to four points and an eventual 54-53 halftime lead, despite 60% first-half shooting from the Pistons.

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Game 3: Cavaliers 101, Pistons 91

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Pistons guard Reggie Jackson scores against Cavaliers forward Kevin Love during the fourth period of the Pistons' 101-91 loss in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference quarterfinals Friday at the Palace.  Kirthmon F. Dozier DFP

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Game 3: Cavaliers 101, Pistons 91

Thompson's tip-in over Andre Drummond off a missed corner three from James gave the Cavs their largest lead at the time, 75-69, with 1:53 left in the third quarter. Thompson added a dunk on the next possession, leaving Pistons coach Stan Van Gundy to yell at Tobias Harris and yank him from the game for failing to help box-out Thompson.

“I thought Tristan was unbelievable,” Lue said. “Tristan is a team player and he just stayed with it. And tonight, we decided to stay big and Tristan was phenomenal for us.”

The Cavs opened the fourth quarter with James screening for Dellavedova at the top of key, and the guard's patience paid off. After multiple picks from James, the backup point guard found James for an And-1 lay-up, and a three for an 85-76 lead.

Dellavedova said James’ crushing picks are effective because the defender doesn’t want to leave James. “He’s such a dynamic roller,” Dellavedova said. “He can catch anything and he can also finish but kick it out to three, so it’s pretty dangerous as him as the roll-man.”

And with the Cavs leading, 95-90, with 2:10 left, Thompson’s relentless pursuit paid off when he outhustled Harris and Reggie Jackson for an extra possession, helping the Cavs drain another 24 seconds.

What makes Thompson so effective on the offensive boards? He says it's crashing the glass on every shot.

“There will be some possessions where I don’t get the offensive rebound,” he said. “But I know if I do it every possession, by the third quarter, fourth quarter, that’s when I’ll be able to get those crucial offensive rebounds to set-up a second chance for us to score.”

And it was Dellavedova who slung a perfect chest-high out-of-bounds pass to Irving for the dagger three with 0.7 seconds left on the shot clock, giving the Cavs a 98-90 lead and sending many of the Pistons' faithful slumping to the exits.