• Cavaliers 82, Pistons 79: Box score | Game details

Cam Young scored 15 points off the bench as the Cleveland Cavaliers defeated the Detroit Pistons 82-79 on Thursday at Thomas & Mack Center in the NBA 2K23 Summer League.

One could think the Cavaliers and Pistons played a tight contest the whole way through solely based on the final score, but that wasn’t the case. The Cavaliers looked absolutely dominant in the first half and outscored the Pistons 45-26 in the opening two quarters, limiting the Pistons to just 13 in both the first and second frames. In fact, Cleveland grabbed the lead with the score at 8-7 midway through the first quarter and never looked back.

The Pistons attempted a comeback in the second half and won the subsequent two quarters, 23-15 and 30-22, but it was not enough. Even though they ended just three points shy of making a comeback, in the end, they missed two 3-pointers in the final 10 seconds and had to settle for a tough three-point loss.

Young led the Cavaliers with 15 points off the bench despite shooting 3-for-13 from the field, while RJ Nembhard posted 14 points and Ochai Agbaji ended with 12 points and seven boards. For the Pistons, Jules Bernard scored a team-high 14 points, while Braxton Key had 13 points and eight rebounds. Balsa Koprovica had a 10-point, 10-rebound double-double.

Summer League Tournament play begins Saturday.