Pistons force – Detroit turned the screws late in Game 6, pulling away for a 21-point win over Cleveland to force a deciding Game 7 in Detroit on Sunday.
When the Pistons finally pulled their starters and the Cavs followed suit, it still didn’t feel like the end of a playoff night. The separation was already too big—Detroit had already been pouring it on—and the clock just confirmed what the score had been spelling out all along.
With time running out, the Pistons defeated the Cavs with a huge 21-point win. That sets the stage for another swing back in Detroit: Game 7 is on Sunday.
The fourth quarter played like a closing argument from Detroit’s offense.. Jenkins kept landing jumpers and threes, and Cleveland’s timeouts couldn’t slow the momentum.. After a 3:25 sequence that stretched Detroit’s cushion. Strus missed a 3 and Cunningham also missed the triple. but Duren cleaned the glass and finished with a layup.. Cleveland called another timeout at 2:21 after Jenkins hit another 3. with the Cavs still missing shots as Detroit continued to control the rhythm.
Even when Cleveland found moments—Mobley converting inside, Mitchell driving for a floater—Detroit’s reply kept coming.. Mitchell tried to jam it, but Cunningham met him at the rim with a huge block.. Duren responded with a spin move on Mobley for a layup. while Thompson picked up his fifth foul and headed to the bench.
As the game opened up, turnovers and rebounds became the whole story of the final stretch.. LeVert missed a contested 3 less than four minutes from the finish, but the Pistons kept saving the ball repeatedly.. Reed then got a slow-and-not-very-pretty and-one layup that still counted. Reed making the free throw as Harden went to the line for both.. The Cavs managed stops and occasional baskets—Robinson and Merrill traded triples—but Detroit’s extra possessions kept pushing the lead outward.
Detroit’s biggest swing came from the way it handled late rebounds and transitions.. The Pistons needed only one offensive rebound to find Robinson open for another 3.. Mobley turned it over, Reed drove and scored, and Mobley responded with a hook shot of his own.. Then. with the sequence tightening. Reed got open under the rim for another easy layup. Sasser ran and hit a floater at the buzzer.. By then. Detroit had taken its largest lead of the night at 14 with one quarter remaining in Game 6—something that set the tone for the final frame.
Earlier. Detroit had already looked like a team trying to prove it could manage pressure for more than a few possessions at a time.. The Pistons started the third quarter hot, with Cunningham calmly draining a triple.. Harris followed with a layup. and Detroit pushed ahead through a stretch that included a Duren block on a Harden floater and Allen being fouled and going 1-for-2.. Jenkins hit corner-3s. and after a Harden turnover led to Mobley fouling Harris in transition. Harris knocked down both free throws as the Pistons opened up on a 10-1 run.
There were moments when the Cavs hung around.. Mobley split free throws after drawing a foul on Harris, and Jenkins laid it in over Allen.. Harden made two more free throws, and Thompson flew in for a putback dunk after Duren missed a layup.. Detroit’s lead grew to 13—its largest up to that point—forcing another Cavs timeout.
Even so, this Game 6 had its own volatility.. Detroit went into halftime with a slim lead over Cleveland in a pivotal contest. and the story there was turnovers. sloppy stretches. and the way Cleveland kept answering runs.. With a 10-point lead and two minutes left. the Cavs stormed back with a 7-0 run thanks to turnovers and poor fouling.
Cade Cunningham led all scorers with 16 points. but the Pistons star also had five turnovers. including back-to-back bad passes that helped spark Cleveland’s late-second-quarter surge.. Jalen Duren turned in the best half of this series with nine points and six rebounds. despite going 1-for-4 from the free throw line.. For Cleveland, James Harden had seven points but struggled with five turnovers as well.. Donovan Mitchell led the Cavs with 13 points in a game that stayed fast but sometimes looked careless on both sides. with 24 combined turnovers in the first half alone—Detroit with 11 and Cleveland with 13.
The tension in Game 6 wasn’t just about the scoreboard.. Detroit arrived facing elimination pressure again after an epic collapse in Game 5 at home that went to overtime. with the Cavs winning 117-113.. Detroit had built a 2-0 lead. then lost three straight. and the top seed in the Eastern Conference suddenly had an early playoff exit staring back.
Now, it’s the Pistons’ late finishing that keeps their season alive. And on Sunday in Detroit, they’ll get another chance to turn this series into the kind of story that doesn’t end when it’s supposed to.
Pistons Cavaliers Game 6 Game 7 Cade Cunningham Jalen Duren James Harden Donovan Mitchell NBA playoffs