After securing a pair of wins on their home court to open up the second round of the 2026 NBA playoffs, the Detroit Pistons had their first taste of defeat since the Orlando Magic series, falling to the Cleveland Cavaliers 116-109 at Rocket Arena in Ohio.
Fighting back from a 64-48 deficit at halftime, outscoring the Cavs 33-19 in the third, the Pistons couldn't pull off the comeback, losing to a Cleveland team that got 35 from their best player, Donovan Mitchell, despite a 27-point effort from Cade Cunningham.
And yet, while Pistons fans may be disappointed by the results, one of their players, Ausar Thompson, isn't taking the loss too personally. Why? Because he remains confident that the team will get back on track and ultimately win the series.
Article Continues Below
“Nothing shakes our confidence,” Thompson declared, “So we have confidence no matter what the turnout of this game was, so yeah.”
On paper, Thompson has a right to still be confident. Facing off against a Cavs team that can score buckets in a hurry, the Pistons didn't exactly help themselves out in the turnover game, handing the ball over 15 times over the course of the game, including eight by Cunningham. The Pistons' shooting was also uncharacteristically poor, making just nine of their 25 3-point shots, with only Tobias Harris and Duncan Robinson shooting over 50 percent, while trailing Cleveland in the free-throw game, attempting 22 shots from the charity stripe versus 28 by the Cavs. If the Pistons can clean just these three aspects of their game up in Game 4, they very well could return to Detroit up 3-1 for an elimination game.
"Nothing shakes our confidence. We have confidence no matter what the turnout of this game was."
—Ausar Thompson on the Pistons' mindset after losing Game 3. pic.twitter.com/djaUxlPEDB
— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) May 9, 2026
After securing a pair of wins on their home court to open up the second round of the 2026 NBA playoffs, the Detroit Pistons had their first taste of defeat since the Orlando Magic series, falling to the Cleveland Cavaliers 116-109 at Rocket Arena in Ohio.