Cavs Dominate Game 7, Advance to Eastern Conference Finals

*** For all the suspense and trepidation heading into Sunday’s winner-take-all contest in Detroit, the Cavaliers put this one away early – manhandling the Pistons through the first two quarters and completely dismantling them after intermission.

Donovan Mitchell banked home a three-pointer from halfcourt to end the first quarter and put the Cavs up nine, and it was all downhill for the Pistons from there, with Cleveland cruising to the finish line and returning to the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time since 2018 – and the first time without LeBron James since 1992 – in a 125-94 Game 7 thrashing at Little Caesars Arena. 

After Mitchell put his punctuation mark on the first quarter, the Wine & Gold began to pull away from there – leading by double-digits for almost the entire second period and extending their edge to 26 points at the end of three. The fourth quarter was merely a chance for the sizeable Cavaliers fan contingent to pound their chest and the remaining Pistons fans to trickle out of the arena. 

Sunday’s Game 7 might’ve been a road game, but the Cavs had plenty of support from the 25 busloads of fans who Dan Gilbert had chartered to Motown. By the third quarter, they’d almost drowned out the home crowd – and were waiting en masse behind Cleveland’s bench following the victory. 

“When we play with force, it’s really the key,” said Coach Kenny Atkinson following the win. “The force on both ends, with our talent, we’re really hard to beat. We can’t have force let downs. In Game 6, we were not the forceful team, but tonight we were. That was the whole difference, our force on both ends.”

The narrative to start Cleveland’s playoff run was that they were unable to win on the road. But after erasing a nine-point lead in a Game 5 thriller and Sunday night’s drubbing, the Cavaliers can head to the Big Apple with some confidence in a rematch of a 2023 First Round matchup that the Knicks took in five games.

Sam Merrill got the party started in the first half – scoring 15 of his 23 points before the break – and Donovan Mitchell did most of the damage in the second stanza, netting 15 of his game-high 26 points in the third quarter. 

On the night, Merrill went 7-for-10 from the floor, including 5-of-8 from long-range and a perfect 4-of-4 from the stripe in 25 lethal minutes off the bench. Mitchell went 10-for-22 from the field while leading Cleveland with eight assists to go with six boards, a steal and a blocked shot. In his 31 minutes of work, Mitchell didn’t commit a single turnover. 

For Mitchell, who’s reached the playoffs in each of his first nine seasons, it’s his first trip past the Second Round, a level that the Cavs also haven’t been able to surpass in the previous three postseasons. 

“We're just one step closer,” said Mitchell, who averaged 28.1 PPG in the series. “But it's been almost a decade of running into the same issue. So, for sure, personally, and as a team, we can breathe a little bit, but at the same token, we can only breathe for about 12 hours and then get right back to it. So, it's a balance. It's a blessing. God is good. I wouldn't be here without my teammates, but we’ve got work to do coming up, for sure.

Cleveland’s big man duo was simply outstanding on Sunday night. 

Jarrett Allen, who had a massive Game 7 in the first round against Toronto, did it again in Round Two – finishing with 23 points on 8-for-14 shooting, adding seven boards, a steal and blocked shot – giving him 26 swats through his 14-game playoff run. 

“I mean, (Jarrett) was great the whole game,” praised Sam Merrill. “But how about third quarter, Game 7 Jarrett Allen? He did the same thing in that Toronto game, just completely took over the game. He did the same thing in that Toronto game, just completely took over the game. He did that tonight.”

Evan Mobley tallied his second double-double of the postseason with 21 points and a game-high 12 rebounds, adding six assists, two steals and a pair of rejections. In the seven-game set against Detroit, the soft-spoken seven-footer blocked multiple shots in all seven – finishing with 19 in the series. 

Cleveland’s size advantage was evident throughout Game 7. The Cavs outrebounded the Pistons, 50-41, outscored in the paint, 58-34, and on second-chance opportunities, 18-11. 

Overall, the Cavs shot 51 percent from the floor, handed out 31 assists on 43 makes and scored at least 30 points in each of the first three quarters while holding the Pistons to just 35 percent shooting and forcing 15 turnovers that they converted into 22 points. 

Daniss Jenkins led four Pistons in double-figures with 17 points but was just 4-of-12 from the floor. Cade Cunningham struggled as well, going 5-for-16 from the floor, including 0-for-7 from long-range. Jalen Duren paced Detroit with nine rebounds and a pair of blocks. 

*** After vanquishing the Raptors and Pistons in a pair of seven-game slugfests, the Cavaliers travel to face a Knicks team fresh off a dominating Second Round sweep of the Sixers, winning the four-game set by an average of 22.3 points per. New York took two of three from Cleveland during the regular season – winning both games at Madison Square Garden by single-figures before the Wine and Gold scored a 15-point win in late February at Rocket Arena. 

Games 1 and 2 of the ECF go down on Tuesday and Thursday in New York, respectively, with Games 3 and 4 slated for Saturday and Monday in Cleveland – all games 8 p.m. ET.