Donovan Mitchell led all scorers with 26 points, Jarrett Allen enjoyed his second consecutive dominant series finale and the Cleveland Cavaliers earned a spot in the Eastern Conference finals with a 125-94 shellacking of the host Detroit Pistons in Game 7 of their semifinal series yesterday (Philippine time).
Allen outscored rival big man Jalen Duren 23-7, Sam Merrill matched him with 23 points off the bench and Evan Mobley completed his first double-double of the series with 21 points and a game-high 12 rebounds.
The fourth-seeded Cavaliers will face the New York Knicks in a best-of-seven series that tips off at New York’s Madison Square Garden.
Overpowering the top-seeded Pistons in every possible way, the Cavaliers built as much as a 20-point lead in the first half, extended the margin to as many as 26 in the third period and coasted into their first trip to the Eastern finals since beating the Boston Celtics in seven games in 2018.
Failing to get to the Eastern finals for the 18th consecutive year, the Pistons watched All-Star guard Cade Cunningham miss all seven of his three-point shots on a 13-point night and Tobias Harris fail to connect on any of his six shots from the field en route to five points.
Cleveland’s big halftime lead was a gradual build. The Cavaliers led just 22-19 inside the 1:49 mark of the first quarter before scoring nine points in the final 94 seconds of the period to go up 31-22. Mitchell had a pair of three-pointers in the run, including a 38-foot buzzer-beater.
The margin reached double digits at the 10:04 mark of the second quarter, 15 after a Merrill three-pointer with 7:30 left in the half and then hit 20 on three occasions, the last time at 64-44 on a driving hoop by Mobley with 31 seconds left before the intermission.
Allen, who had gone for 22 points and 19 rebounds when Cleveland needed a Game 7 to eliminate the Toronto Raptors in Round 1, had 15 of his 23 points in the first half.
Mobley added six assists, two steals and two blocks for the game to his best overall performance of the series, which saw the home team win each of the first four games, then not again. Mitchell collected a game-high eight assists.
Daniss Jenkins was Detroit’s leading scorer with 17 points to go with five assists, while Duncan Robinson had 13 points and Caris LeVert 11. Duren found time for a team-high nine rebounds. (Field Level Media / Reuters)