The Cleveland Cavaliers advance to the Eastern Conference Finals after their Game 7 victory over the Detroit Pistons.
The Cleveland Cavaliers could have gone in one of two dramatically different directions depending on the outcome of their Game 7 matchup against the Detroit Pistons.
A win would have sent them to the Eastern Conference Finals, and a loss would have started an offseason with plenty of questions about the future of this iteration of the team.
Thankfully, the first scenario came to fruition as the Cavaliers took down the Pistons, 125-94, to advance to the next round of the NBA Finals.
After Cleveland’s Game 6 loss on their home floor, it was vital that the Cavaliers came out and set the tone early, and that’s exactly what they did. The Wine and Gold outscored the Pistons 31-22 in the first quarter while shooting 52 percent from the floor and 46 percent from behind the arc.
That first quarter was just the beginning of what would end up being an offensive onslaught by the Cavaliers. Cleveland’s largest lead ended up stretching to 35 points at one point in the third quarter.
The most impressive part about this was that Cleveland has a balanced scoring attack that didn't let up at any point during the game.
The Cavaliers ended up having four players scoring 20-or-more points once the final buzzer sounded: Donovan Mitchell (26), Jarrett Allen (23), Sam Merrill (23), and Evan Mobley (21). James Harden struggled with his shot, but he still put his imprint on the game with six assists and five rebounds.
While it was the offense that stole the show in Game 7, Cleveland’s defense deserves recognition, too.
The Cavaliers held Cade Cunningham to just 13 points while shooting 5-for-16 from the floor and 0-for-7 from behind the arc. At a team level, Cleveland finished with a defensive rating of 91.5.
What the box score doesn’t show is that the Cavaliers simply had more urgency and effort on both ends of the floor, which was missing at times this series. To Cleveland’s credit, it brought it when needed the most.
Of course, with this victory, the Cavaliers advance further than they ever have during the Mitchell era.
Cleveland will now take on the New York Knicks in the Eastern Conference Finals. It’s the first time the Cavaliers have reached the Conference Finals without LeBron James since 1992.
Game 1 of the next round of the NBA Playoffs will begin at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday evening.
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