The Cleveland Cavaliers clawed back for their first away victory of the playoffs, beating the Detroit Pistons 117-113 in overtime of Game 5.
There’s been a theme in this series. Win the possession battle, win the game. That’s true in most cases, but especially in this matchup — where the Pistons are forced to rely on an elite defense to narrow the gap between their limited offense and the dynamic Cavaliers.
Cleveland will win any fair fight against Detroit. Fair, in this instance, means an equal amount of possessions. But the Pistons have worked to take that away from the Cavs. Their smothering defense forced 10 turnovers in the first half, scoring 20 points off those turnovers.
Tobias Harris, Cade Cunningham, Dannis Jankins, and Isaiah Stewart all got hot in the first half to give the Pistons an eight-point lead. Truth be told, the Cavs felt lucky to have the deficit under double-digits, all things considered.
I’d say Max Strus and James Harden did most of the work keeping Cleveland in range during the first half. Harden’s shot-making kept the floor from falling out from under them while Strus nailed a pair of three-pointers in the closing minutes of the second quarter to cut into the lead.
The dam finally broke in the third quarter, when Harden and Strus did enough to regain the lead. Evan Mobley contributed, as well, delivering a huge sequence where he dunked all over the Pistons, and then hit a three-pointer on the next play.
Detroit kept fighting, however.
The Pistons’ defense became overwhelming as the game went on. They swarmed the ball, forcing turnovers and generating more opportunities to score in transition. The Cavs offense was thrown totally out of whack, as Donovan Mitchell (who began the game 0-7 from deep) couldn’t crack the code.
All of this led to a nine-point lead for the Pistons with just three minutes remaining. It looked like the Cavs would lose a third game in Detroit in almost identical fashion. An early deficit followed by a second-half rally that runs out of gas.
Then the miraculous happened.
The Cavs somehow rallied back again, led by some gigantic shots from Mobley. A clutch triple put them in reach. Then, a pair of free throws tied the game. It says something about Mobley to struggle shooting the ball all season, only to connect on the three biggest shots of his life.
Cleveland forced Detroit into difficult shots down the stretch. Holding them scoreless for most of the pivotal run to force overtime.
Then in the extra period, Mitchell broke free and found a rhythym, hitting a three-pointer and then getting an open layup off another clutch steal from Max Strus.
Strus added 21 points on 6-8 three-point shooting. Harden finished with a game-high 31 points. Mobley turned his night around for 19 points, 8 rebounds, 8 assists, and 3 blocks.
By the end, Cleveland had erased a 16-point deficit on the road in their most important game of the 2020s. That’s the type of resilient win this city has been begging for.
The Cavs now lead 3-2 and have a chance to advance to the Eastern Conference Finals on Friday.