DETROIT — Cade Cunningham delivered 25 points and 10 assists on Thursday night, guiding the Detroit Pistons to a 107-97 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers and a 2-0 advantage in their Eastern Conference semifinal.
The win at Little Caesars Arena marks Detroit’s fifth straight postseason triumph, the club’s longest such streak since 2008. Tobias Harris supplied 21 points and seven rebounds, while reserve guard Daniss Jenkins added 14 points, six boards and four assists. Duncan Robinson hit five three-pointers for the second consecutive contest, finishing with 17 points and becoming the first player in franchise history to record that feat in back-to-back playoff games.
Cunningham has scored at least 20 points in all 15 playoff appearances of his career, the fourth-longest opening streak in league history behind Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (27 games), LeBron James (19) and Anthony Davis (16), according to ESPN research. Over Detroit’s current five-game run, he is averaging 31.4 points and 7.4 assists while shooting 55.2% from beyond the arc.
Detroit led by as many as 14 in the first half before Cleveland surged ahead 81-79 on an Evan Mobley dunk with 10:19 remaining. The Pistons responded with a 28-16 closing burst, highlighted by Cunningham’s step-back three that pushed the margin to 101-92 with 2:12 left.
Head coach J.B. Bickerstaff praised the 24-year-old guard’s poise. “He’s the killer, the closer,” Bickerstaff said. “In the fourth quarter, he does his best work.”
Despite holding a commanding series lead, Cunningham pointed to the club’s first-round scare—when Detroit erased a 3-1 deficit to beat Orlando—as a reminder to stay grounded. “It taught us how thin the line is between winning and losing,” he said. “Now we have to go into Cleveland, handle our business and be focused.”
Historically, the Pistons are 12-1 in best-of-seven sets when they win the opening two games, and teams leading 2-0 league-wide advance 92% of the time. Jenkins cautioned that the team remains in a fight. “Our back’s still against the wall,” he said. “Job’s not finished.”
Game 3 is set for Saturday at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in Cleveland.
Source: ESPN
