The Cleveland Cavaliers travel to Motown to play the Detroit Pistons at Little Ceasar's Arena on Monday.

The Cavaliers (2-12) were expected to have a rough season but no one could see them struggling like this. It's easy to see why they're struggling so badly, with players like LeBron James, Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love all out of the picture. Love is actually the only player remaining from that "big three", as he'll be out another month due to a foot injury. It's now a mishmash of random players, with young players like Collin Sexton and Jordan Clarkson running the show. The loss of all these studs really shows in their offensive numbers, with Cleveland ranking 28th in scoring and 29th in assists. The offense isn't pretty either, with the Cavaliers ranking 26th in offensive efficiency. It's hard to see a silver lining with this team but there is some hope that these young players can develop with the vast amount of minutes they'll receive in what's already become a lost season.

The Pistons (7-6) come into this matchup winning three of their last four games, as that covers up a pretty ugly stretch. In fact, Detroit lost five-straight games prior to this mini-spurt. In addition, these Pistons actually won their first four games of the season prior to that five-game slide and it's a wonder why these swings have been so massive. It's no fault of Blake Griffin though, as he currently leads this team in scoring, assists and usage. That's the vintage Griffin from his Los Angeles days and Detroit just needs a little more from their backcourt to find some more consistency. Not only has Reggie Jackson been slumping, but the shooting guard position has also been in flux all season long. Having a dominant frontcourt with Griffin and Andre Drummond is definitely dangerous but it's impossible to compete in a guard-heavy NBA with a below-average backcourt like the one the Pistons possess.

Detroit won their one game over Cleveland earlier this season, 110-103, on October 25. With that said, the Cavaliers won their season series over the Pistons last season, 3-1.