Cade Cunningham scored 21 points and dished out eight assists as the Detroit Pistons soundly beat the host Cleveland Cavaliers 115-94 in Game 6 on Friday night, extending the Eastern Conference semifinal series to a decisive seventh game.
Jalen Duren had 15 points and 11 rebounds, Paul Reed scored 17 points in 16 minutes and Ausar Thompson added 10 points, nine rebounds and four steals before fouling out for the top-seeded Pistons.
Game 7 is Sunday in Detroit.
James Harden had 23 points, seven rebounds and eight turnovers for the fourth-seeded Cavaliers, who lost at home for the first time in seven playoff games. Donovan Mitchell scored 18 points on 6-of-20 shooting and Evan Mobley added 18 points.
The Pistons had lost nine straight postseason games in Cleveland dating back to 2006. Detroit, which outscored the Cavaliers 61-43 in the second half, racked up 28 total points on 20 forced turnovers.
Cunningham and Dannis Jenkins each made 3-pointers, and Thompson had a resounding dunk as Detroit built a 68-55 advantage 3:10 into the third quarter. Marcus Sasser went coast-to-coast for a floater at the buzzer to push it out to 84-70.
The Pistons didn’t let up in the fourth, sending most of the crowd home early on Daniss Jenkins’ 3-pointer with 2:22 remaining that made it 112-91. Jenkins finished with 15 points and Sasser scored nine points in 18 minutes.
Thompson was called for a flagrant foul on Sam Merrill, grabbing his neck with both hands and shoving him to the floor, with the Pistons leading 41-29 in the second. Merrill scored the next five points, fueling the Cavaliers to pull within 54-51 at halftime.
Cunningham had 16 points, five assists and five turnovers at intermission, while Duren posted his best half of the series with nine points and six rebounds. Mitchell led Cleveland with 13 points and Harden had seven points and five turnovers.
Thompson made a free throw to extend Detroit’s advantage to 39-27 early in the second, capping a 22-4 run. The surge began when Sasser entered the contest.
Caris LeVert made a pair of 3-pointers off the bench in the first for the Pistons, who led 27-25 after 12 minutes. Detroit converted eight first-quarter turnovers into nine points.
–Field Level Media
