Cade Cunningham scored 21 points and dished out eight assists as the Detroit Pistons soundly beat the host Cleveland Cavaliers 115-94 in Game 6 on Friday night, extending the Eastern Conference semifinal series to a decisive seventh game.
Jalen Duren had 15 points and 11 rebounds, Paul Reed scored 17 points in 16 minutes and Ausar Thompson added 10 points, nine rebounds and four steals before fouling out for the top-seeded Pistons.
“A great team win,” Cunningham said. “We finally are getting some synergy and we’ve got good players up and down the roster.
“It was just our will, executing the game plan and just our will and aggression. Not wanting to lose. … It takes everybody.”
Game 7 is Sunday in Detroit.
James Harden had 23 points, seven rebounds and eight turnovers for the fourth-seeded Cavaliers, who lost at home for the first time in seven playoff games. Donovan Mitchell scored 18 points on 6-of-20 shooting, and Evan Mobley added 18 points.
“Give them credit,” Cavaliers coach Kenny Atkinson said of the Pistons. “We weren’t sharp. They were sharp. They shot the heck out of the ball. They hit some daggers.
“We’ve got an opportunity, still. Game 7s are a tossup, especially with two teams that are this evenly matched. We’ve obviously got to play better — it starts there — but I see no heads down in our locker room. Now, we’ve got to flip the narrative.”
The Pistons had lost nine straight postseason games in Cleveland dating back to 2007. Detroit, which outscored the Cavaliers 61-43 in the second half, racked up 28 total points on 20 forced turnovers.
“I was pleased we were able to play our style of basketball tonight,” Pistons coach J.B. Bickerstaff said. “When we’re at our best, it’s the defense and the physicality that carries us.”
Cunningham and Daniss Jenkins each made 3-pointers and Thompson had a resounding dunk as Detroit built a 68-55 advantage 3:10 into the third quarter. Marcus Sasser went coast-to-coast for a floater at the buzzer to push the Pistons’ gap to 84-70.
The Pistons didn’t let up in the fourth, sending most of the crowd home early on Jenkins’ 3-pointer with 2:22 remaining that made it 112-91. Jenkins finished with 15 points and Sasser scored nine points in 18 minutes.
Thompson was called for a flagrant foul on Sam Merrill, grabbing his neck with both hands and shoving him to the floor, with the Pistons leading 41-29 in the second. Merrill scored the next five points, fueling the Cavaliers to pull within 54-51 at halftime.
Cunningham had 16 points, five assists and five turnovers at intermission, while Duren posted his best half of the series with nine points and six rebounds.
“I’ve seen him do so much, it’s hard to impress me too much,” Duren said of Cunningham.
Mitchell led Cleveland with 13 first-half points, and Harden had seven points and five turnovers.
“We never really kicked it to that second level,” Harden said. “It was never just a consistent flow at either end of the floor, which is frustrating.”
Thompson made a free throw to extend Detroit’s advantage to 39-27 early in the second, capping a 22-4 run. The surge began when Sasser entered the contest.
Caris LeVert made a pair of 3-pointers off the bench in the first period for the Pistons, who led 27-25 after 12 minutes. Detroit converted eight first-quarter turnovers by Cleveland into nine points.
–Field Level Media
