The Detroit Pistons picked up their second consecutive 10-point win over the Cleveland Cavs in the second round
Playing with the backing of a raucous, inspired Little Caesars Arena crowd, the Detroit Pistons put an authoritative stamp on their second round matchup against the Cleveland Cavaliers with a 107-97 victory on Thursday night.
After a similar 10-point win two days prior, the Pistons looked determined to defend home court after experiencing the pitfalls of a long, drawn out playoff series in round one. So, All-Star point guard Cade Cunningham and company continued to exert their style of play on the Cavs, a defensive one at that, and Detroit now has a decided 2-0 edge in the series headed back to Cleveland in a couple days.
During game two, Cunningham took a backseat role through the opening three quarters with 13 points, but the floor general supplied Tobias Harris and Duncan Robinson with plenty of open looks in a 10-assist performance. But once the fourth quarter struck, Cunningham took the scoring impetus into his own hands with 13 points in the final frame to help the Pistons seal their fifth consecutive win in the postseason.
“I think as that was happening, they started to pick up their pressure a little bit more, we got sped up, but we found our resolve,” Pistons head coach J.B. Bickerstaff said after the game. “We got back to who we are. Talking about that moment to moment. Don’t hang onto things that have happened in the past and don’t look into the future. Just make the right play right now, and I thought our guys did that down the stretch.”
While Cunningham held much of the scoring responsibility down the stretch, Harris finished not far behind with 21 points, seven rebounds, two steals and two blocks in another clutch playoff effort for the 15-year vet. Coming into the game, Harris was tied for the NBA record of most consecutive 20-point games in the postseason after failing to reach that mark in two straight contests at any point in the regular season. So, Harris walked away with both a key playoff victory over a bitter division rival and a new NBA record attached to his name.
As for Robinson, the sharp-shooting wing was true to his reputation with 17 points on 5-for-9 shooting from downtown with three steals on the other end to round out his contributions. Robinson was a valuable kick-out option on the perimeter, and he served as a safety valve while knocking down a slew of impactful three-pointers during the double-digit win.
But for all those positive aspects of the Pistons’ performance on Thursday, All-Star center Jalen Duren struggled once again after piecing together two consecutive strong performances, one in game seven against the Magic and the other in game one of this series. Duren accounted for just eight points all game long, which is notably below his regular season mark of 19.5 points per game, but the big man remained active on the glass with 10 rebounds, which was a team-high for Detroit.
Rounding out the Pistons starting lineup, Ausar Thompson finished the contest with 10 points, seven rebounds, two assists and two steals. However, Thompson was far more active on the defensive end than those two plays would suggest, and the stat keepers might have shorted the third-year lockdown defender in a night where he was the central figure in causing a handful of Cleveland turnovers, which is a recurring postseason theme for AT.
On the other side of the matchup, Jarrett Allen had a big bounce-back performance since he was finally able to stay out of trouble, posting 22 points and seven rebounds on the night. Donovan Mitchell was the leading scorer for the Cavs with 31 points, but his offensive flurry wasn’t enough for Cleveland to catch the Pistons late in the game.
Now that Detroit has a 2-0 advantage in the second round, the Pistons will have tomorrow off before suiting up for a 3 pm tip-off against the Cavs in game three on Saturday, May 9.
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