The Detroit Pistons are going to a Game 7 again, and they earned it the hard way. The No. 1 seed in the East walked into Cleveland and dropped a 21-point beating on the Cavaliers in Game 6, forcing a winner-take-all matchup on Sunday in Detroit. The series has been one of the best of the playoffs, and now it gets the ending it deserved.
Cade Cunningham was the best player on the floor again, putting up a near triple-double and outplaying Donovan Mitchell down the stretch. The Pistons defense smothered the Cavs’ role players. Max Strus, who saved Cleveland in Game 5 with six 3-pointers, was held to a single make in Game 6. That swing alone tells you most of the story.
How Detroit Did It
The Pistons came out of the locker room with a chip on their shoulder and never let go of it. They opened the game with a 14-2 run. They led by double digits at halftime. They never let Cleveland get within striking distance in the third quarter.
J.B. Bickerstaff made a key defensive adjustment by switching Ausar Thompson onto Strus full time. Strus could not find space. The Cavs offense lost its release valve. Mitchell still got his numbers, but he had to manufacture every possession by himself.
Cleveland’s Problem
The Cavs have leaned hard on Mitchell and Strus all series. When both produce, Cleveland wins. When one of them is contained, they have not figured out a counter. That is a coaching question for Kenny Atkinson heading into Game 7.
Evan Mobley needs to be more aggressive offensively. Darius Garland needs to look more like the All-Star version of himself and less like the bench version that has shown up at times this series. Jarrett Allen needs to be a factor on the offensive glass. None of that happened in Game 6.
The Bickerstaff Storyline
The subplot here is that Bickerstaff is two games into beating the franchise that fired him. He spent three seasons in Cleveland. He helped develop most of the current Cavs core. Now he is one win away from sending them home in the second round.
This was always going to be the storyline if Detroit advanced. Bickerstaff has not made it personal in any of his press conferences. He has been the picture of professionalism. The Pistons players have not been quite as restrained. There has been chirping from both benches in every game.
What Happens in Game 7
The pressure is entirely on Cleveland. The Cavs are the better seed, the higher-paid roster, and the team that built around Mitchell to do exactly this. Losing in the second round in a Game 7 to the Pistons would be the worst possible outcome for the franchise.
Atkinson needs to figure out how to get Mobley involved on offense. He needs to find more minutes for Caris LeVert. He needs an emergency answer for what to do when Detroit traps Mitchell at the perimeter.
Detroit just needs to play exactly the way they played in Game 6. The Pistons have been here before this postseason. They came back from down 3-1 against the Magic in Round 1. They know how to win an elimination game on the road. This time they get to play it at home.
Bottom Line
The series is everything anyone could have asked for. Game 7 tips off Sunday night in Detroit on Prime Video. The winner faces the Knicks in the Eastern Conference Finals. The loser goes home and answers a lot of hard questions about the season.
Detroit is the better team right now. The Pistons in seven. Cleveland fans are not going to want to hear that, but Cade has been the best player in this series start to finish. He is about to send his old coach to the Conference Finals.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
