Kevin Love, Aron Baynes

Cleveland Cavaliers' Kevin Love, left, met on a drive in Game 1 by Detroit Pistons center Aron Baynes, can expect to see more physical treatment when he has the ball in Game 2.

(AP Photo | Tony Dejak)

AUBURN HILLS -- Marcus Morris suggested today that the Detroit Pistons are ready to get much more physical with Kevin Love in Wednesday's Game 2 after the Cleveland Cavaliers forward had a big night in the opener of their Eastern Conference first-round playoff series.

Asked how the Pistons would deal with Love as the best-of-seven series continues, Morris replied, "Maybe rough him up a little bit."

"He had a good game the first game," Morris said. "We definitely took it a little disrespectful. So I think we're definitely going to push up a little harder on him, maybe foul him a little harder, things like that."

Love had 28 points and 13 rebounds, including four 3-pointers, in the Cavs' 106-101 victory in Sunday's series opener.

Morris said the Pistons need to disrupt and jostle Love much earlier in the game.

"I think he was just too comfortable," Morris said. "His confidence was too high. We've definitely got to get him out of that rhythm early."

Tobias Harris, who figures to get the primary defensive assignment against Love, although he and Morris switch regularly, also said the Pistons need to be more physical in stopping him.

"He's a strong player but a lot of it's just making his catches tough for him, pushing him out and just trying to make him make a tough shot," Harris said. "He got into a rhythm early on, got a lot of open looks, and was able to make a lot of three-balls, especially off of missed rebounds that we weren't able to get. That's something they capitalized on as a team and that's something that we discussed as a team that we have to be better at coming into Game 2."

One possibility is the Pistons going ultra-small and using Harris to defend Love when the latter is playing as a de facto center.

That smaller lineup hurt the Pistons in the fourth quarter of Game 1.

"Can't tell the game plan, that's what coach says," Harris said. "But that was a scenario just because of Kevin Love at the five. But we discussed all scenarios today at practice and yesterday. So we'll be ready for that tomorrow."

The Pistons have not played a center-less alignment this season and head coach Stan Van Gundy said before Game 1 that it would be uncomfortable for them. But playoff basketball is about adjustments and the Pistons went over using center-less alignments in practice this week.

Asked about adjustments in Game 2, Van Gundy twice this week said they would be "subtle."

"You're not going to change your entire system," he said.

PISTONS NOTES

The rotation changes: Anthony Tolliver did not play in the Game 1 and when asked about the backup power forward's role in Game 2, Van Gundy said he plays good defense and will "be ready to play so he's certainly a viable guy." With Van Gundy looking to get more time for Stanley Johnson, there is a possibility Tolliver will see only spot time in the series.

Jeff Van Gundy's coaching candidacy: Stan Van Gundy is uniquely positioned to know his brother's thoughts and it is clear Jeff Van Gundy, the ABC/ESPN analyst and former New York Knicks and Houston Rockets coach, is looking to get back into the business in the right spot, which may be Minnesota. The Timberwolves interviewed Jeff Van Gundy on Monday in Cleveland. "He has a great job," Stan Van Gundy said of his brother. "If he takes a job it's going to be one that he thinks was just a great, great, great situation which he couldn't turn down. He's not going to take anything marginal, I'll tell you that." The Timberwolves also have interviewed former Chicago Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau for their vacancy and reportedly will interview Mark Jackson, the former Golden State coach and Jeff Van Gundy's broadcast partner and former player with both the Knicks (when Van Gundy was an assistant) and Rockets. Former Minnesota coach Flip Saunders died in October 2015, days before this season started, and Sam Mitchell filled the job in an interim capacity.

Bodies on bodies: The Pistons were outrebounded 40-37 in Game 1 and a lot of the problem was a series of long defensive rebounds which Cavaliers perimeter players were able to scramble and track down. It created extra possessions which made a tangible difference in the 20-6 second-chance scoring favoring the Cavs. Morris said there was heavy focus the last two days on "everybody coming in to crash, the guards staying out near the foul-line area, more block-outs." He also suggested that Pistons perimeter players sometimes get a little lazy at having the best rebounder in the world, Andre Drummond, on their team. "Sometimes I think we just think 'Dre's going to get it. He's the best rebounder in the leagues, so sometimes we tend to just watch because most of the time he does get it. I think that's something we can't do right now. That's something we have to change. Playoffs, everybody's crashing, everybody's going hard, so I think all five guys have got to get in there and don't expect him to get every board, and try to get them." Morris said he thought the Pistons got caught playing rebounding spectators on several of the long rebounds, including himself. "It shouldn't happen but that did happen," he said.

Youngsters in a man's game: The Pistons began the playoffs with 204 games of total playoff experience among their 15 players. That ranked 14th of the 16 NBA playoff teams, ahead of only Boston (121) and Portland (105).

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