Cade Cunningham and the Detroit Pistons were eliminated in Game 7 of the second round against the Cleveland Cavaliers after a 125-94 blowout. Cunningham finished with 13 points, four rebounds, five assists, and two steals but went 5-of-16 from the field and 0-
Detroit walked into Game 7 against the Cleveland Cavaliers with momentum it had earned the night before.. After a Game 6 win that kept the series alive, the Pistons had another chance to extend things back at home.. By the end of the night. that swing didn’t last—Cade Cunningham and Detroit were eliminated in a 125-94 loss.
Cunningham’s final line showed how harsh the margin was.. He finished with 13 points. four rebounds. five assists. and two steals. yet he shot 5-of-16 from the field and went 0-of-7 from three.. Detroit’s scoring was led by Daniss Jenkins, who put up 17 points, three rebounds, and five assists on 4-of-12 shooting.
For Cunningham, the reaction came quickly and bluntly, with the kind of frustration that sticks after a postseason disappointment.. “That game sucked,” Cade Cunningham told reporters after the loss.. “Being back home, we definitely wanted to get this win in front of the fans.. It reminded me of last year, losing on our home court.. it’s not a great feeling.. I hadn’t been thinking about the offseason. so my mind’s been racing now trying to figure out what I got to do and what it’s going to look like.. that’s basically it.”
Cleveland’s offense was led by Donovan Mitchell, who scored 26 points with six rebounds and eight assists before fouling out in 31 minutes of play. Jarrett Allen and Sam Merrill both finished with 23 points, and Evan Mobley added 21 points as the Cavaliers forced their way forward.
Detroit will now head into a longer offseason than it wanted. with the goal still lingering: reaching further into the playoffs next May.. Cunningham left no doubt that the sting will follow this group.. “A lot,” Cade Cunningham added of what he and his team can take from this kind of loss.. “It’s hard not to.. There was a great opportunity to move forward and to continue to experience new things that we hadn’t been exposed to.. Fell short.. We were right there, but we fell short.. I think that chip and that sting, it’s going to sit for a while.. We’ve got to work through it and continue to grow.”
For Cleveland, the path is clear from here: the Cavaliers advance to the Eastern Conference Finals, where they will take on the New York Knicks. The Knicks have been waiting after defeating the Philadelphia 76ers for a week.
The timeline of the series carries its own pressure: Detroit entered Game 7 after a Game 6 win that “staved off elimination to force another game back home. ” only to be eliminated in the deciding game by a 125-94 blowout. and that swing matches Cunningham’s emphasis on how the team’s home-court hopes—“being back home” and “in front of the fans”—turned into the kind of feeling he tied to losing on his home court last year.
Cade Cunningham Detroit Pistons Cleveland Cavaliers Game 7 125-94 Donovan Mitchell Daniss Jenkins Jarrett Allen Sam Merrill Evan Mobley Eastern Conference Finals New York Knicks