Cavs dominate Pistons all night, easily win game 7
Moving on or elimination? Previewing Pistons-Cavaliers Game 7
A trip to the Eastern Conference finals is on the line as the Detroit Pistons host the Cleveland Cavaliers in a pivotal Game 7 on Sunday night at Little Caesars Arena.
DETROIT (FOX 2) - The top-seeded Detroit Pistons were pushed to a deciding game 7 for the second consecutive round, but this time the results didn't go in favor of the home team.
Cleveland easily won 125-94.
Donovan Mitchell scored 26 points, Jarrett Allen and Sam Merrill each added 23 for the Cavaliers on Sunday night to advance to the Eastern Conference finals.
The fourth-seeded Cavaliers ousted the East’s top seed and will face the third-seeded New York Knicks. Game 1 of that series tips off Tuesday in New York.
Detroit struggled offensively and defensively all game, giving up multiple runs of more than 10 points for Cleveland. The Cavs were up 99-73 after three quarters, and had a 64-47 lead at the half. The closest Detroit got once the game was underway was tying the game at 13, midway through the first quarter, before the Cavaliers started to pull ahead.
Evan Mobley had 21 points and 12 rebounds for the Cavaliers, who advanced to the conference finals for the first time since 2018 and the ninth time in team history. It’s their deepest run since LeBron James’ final season with the franchise.
Daniss Jenkins scored 17 points, and Cade Cunningham and Duncan Robinson each finished with 13 for the Pistons, who fell one win shy of their first conference finals appearance since 2008 after forcing the deciding game with a Game 6 victory Friday night.
The Cavs dictated the pace from the opening tip and never allowed the Pistons to gain traction, then blew open a convincing Game 7 performance when Mitchell scored 15 in the third quarter.
By the numbers:
Announced prior to the game, Pistons star guard Cade Cunningham finished fifth in league MVP voting.
It won't be announced until later in the week, but Cunningham is also likely to be named to the All-NBA first team.
The voting process is this: The NBA polls 100 reporters and broadcasters who cover the league and has them select their top choices in various categories. For MVP, voters rank their top five selections in order — and since All-NBA follows the same process, it stands to reason that the same voters would have first-team All-NBA listed in identical fashion to their MVP choices.
That would suggest the All-NBA first team would be MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of Oklahoma City, Nikola Jokic of Denver, Victor Wembanyama of San Antonio, Doncic and Cunningham.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.