by
Cade Cunningham
It looked as if the Detroit Pistons might win on Wednesday night at Little Caesars Arena. But that was just an illusion.
The Pistons let a nine-point lead slip away in the end, giving the Cleveland Cavaliers the green light to win in overtime, 117-113, and take a 3-2 lead in the series. Cade Cunningham scored 39 points, but that wasn't enough.
The Pistons have now lost three games in a row.
Now it's off to Cleveland for Game 6 on Friday night — a do-or-die game for the Pistons.
Here's what sports writers had to say:
Shawn Windsor, Detroit Free Press:
Now they’ll have to flush one of the worst collapses in recent Detroit sports memory. Technically, I suppose, they can still make that happen. Find a way in Cleveland in Game 6. Shake off the road malaise they’ve shown all postseason and find a way to bring this back to Detroit for a Game 7.
But after losing this way? With the game just ... about ... over? After they’d come back from another poor third quarter, from more foul and free throw disparity? From losing Duncan Robinson before the game? From having lost – again – their promising young center during the game? (If anyone has seen Jalen Duren, let him know what happened Wednesday night at Little Caesars Arena).
Yeah, no. They weren’t coming back from that. That’s not how overtime works in the NBA. It was Cleveland’s game at that point. And the Cavs happily grabbed the gift, beating the Pistons, 117-113.
But whether you want to blame the whistles that blew for most of the night or the one that didn’t when Detroit needed it most, you can’t ignore the plays the Pistons failed to make, either. And after watching a nine-point lead evaporate in the final few minutes of regulation, some glaring mistakes in overtime ultimately sealed Detroit’s fate in a 117-113 loss.
Cunningham scored a game-high 39 points Wednesday, but he also committed a costly turnover in overtime — "I wish I could have that play back, for sure," he said, after Max Strus picked his pocket — and then appeared to miss a free-throw cutout with 22 seconds left in what was still a one-possession game.
"But it's basketball," he said. "It's an imperfect game."
How does one overcome an 11-point difference in points off turnovers? Get to the foul line and make a bunch more of those free throws than the home team.
That’s how the Cavs survived their 17 turnovers, worth 27 points — 27! — to win Game 5 and get to the brink of the Eastern Conference finals.
J.B. Bickerstaff, the former Cleveland coach who is on the Pistons’ sideline now and is not at all happy about the officiating over the last three games, said after Game 4 “the whistle has changed.” I asked him Wednesday what he meant, and he said, “Cleveland is getting more calls.” And then the Cavs went 31 of 38 from the stripe in Game 5 compared with Detroit’s 18 of 20. That’s a wild discrepancy in favor of the road team.
Here's what Cleveland's James Harden had to say after the game, as reported by the Cleveland Plain Dealer:
"I just read how they were guarding us. I’m always looking for opportunities to be aggressive, and since Don struggled a bit tonight, the rest of us needed to step up. Between Max hitting big shots and Dennis playing well, it was a complete team effort. I found an opening and decided to stay aggressive within our offense."
The Pistons collapsed agonizingly, astonishingly, failing to score in the final three minutes of regulation after taking a 103-94 lead. Game 6 is Friday night in Cleveland and the Pistons’ season hangs in the balance. It wouldn’t be wise to count them out because this is what they do. They make it hard — on the opponent and sometimes on themselves.
But honestly, it’s hard to see them recovering — physically, emotionally — to win two straight. Cleveland is 6-0 at home in these playoffs, although a potential Game 7 would be in Detroit. If the Pistons make it to Sunday, I’d like their chances. But they’ll be stepping into a cauldron at Rocket Arena Friday night, and you wonder if they’ll be ready for it.
