On paper, the Cleveland Cavaliers had the most talented roster in the East this season, they just didn’t always (or even often) play like it.
They did in Game 7 on Sunday.
Cleveland was in complete control from the start on the Pistons’ home court. Donovan Mitchell wasn’t settling for 3s, he was driving and touching paint on every drive — and with not nearly enough resistance from Detroit.
Mitchell finished with 26 points, outscoring Cade Cunningham, Jalen Duren and Tobias Harris — combined. The Pistons looked like a young team that was not ready for this moment. Also one just having an off night shooting.
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The result was a blowout Cavaliers win, 125-94, in which the game felt like a formality for much of the second half. Cleveland took a 10-point lead two minutes into the second quarter, and its lead never dipped into single digits again.
Cleveland now advances to face New York in the Eastern Conference Finals, which will start Tuesday at Madison Square Garden.
If the Cavaliers play in that series like they did in Game 7, they can push the Knicks.
Everything started for the Cavaliers with their big men — Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen combined for 44 points, 19 rebounds and three blocks. And those numbers do not do justice to their impact in this game. The Pistons want to be physical, win the battle in the paint and play inside-out, but Mobley and Allen completely outplayed Jalen Duren, Isaiah Stewart and Paul Reed.
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It also helped that Sam Merrill came in off the bench on fire, finishing with 23 points on 5-of-8 shooting from beyond the arc.
It was Mitchell who set the tone on the night, and in addition to his 26 points he added eight assists and seven rebounds. Cleveland was up 17 at the half, but Mitchell came out in the third quarter, scoring 15 in the frame, and slamming the door on a Detroit comeback.
The entire Detroit roster struggled to score: Cunningham had 13 points on 5-of-16 shooting, Harris was 0-of-6 for five points, and Duren was 3-of-7 for seven points. Daniss Jenkins led the Pistons with 17 points, and Duncan Robinson had a quality game off the bench with 13 points, including three 3-pointers.
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Cleveland was executing its game plan from the start. Not only did they focus on driving into the heart of the Pistons’ defense, but they also moved the ball and had 18 assists on 22 shots in the first half, and shot 52.4% in the first half with eight made 3-pointers.
This was not the physical, imposing Pistons that won 60 games, or even the same team from Game 6. In the opening minutes, Detroit generated multiple transition opportunities only to just miss the shot (or throw the pass away). Those came back to bite them as the Cavaliers got hot, shooting 6-of-13 from 3-point range in the first quarter, including this one from Mitchell at the buzzer.
Detroit heads into this offseason with questions about finding a reliable second shot creator and scoring option to put next to their All-Star (and fifth in MVP voting) Cunningham. They also face questions about how much to pay their other All-Star, Jalen Duren, who was brilliant during the season but struggled in key games in this series.
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Cleveland now heads to New York for even a bigger task.
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