Early in the seminal superhero movie “Batman Begins,” a young Bruce Wayne falls down a dry well – yes, a deep hole, for symbolism – before he’s rescued by his father, who poses this rhetorical question to his son.
“Why do we fall? So we can learn to pick ourselves up.”
After they did their very best impression of the youngster destined to become, well, Batman against the Orlando Magic, the Pistons learned a lot about picking themselves up.
In fact, without the struggle endured in their first-round NBA playoff series – becoming the 15th team in NBA history to rally from a 3-1 series deficit – it’s hard to imagine the Pistons staving off the Cleveland Cavaliers’ late rally Tuesday, May 5, en route to a 111-101 victory in the opener of the Eastern Conference semifinals at Little Caesars Arena.
Suddenly, after being on the brink of elimination, the East’s top seed is riding a four-game winning streak and one of the hottest teams in the playoffs. It’s like the Pistons transformed themselves from a soft child billionaire into Batman in one series.
So when the Cavs slowly clawed their way back from an early deficit to a 93-all tie with 5:28 left, the Pistons were ready. They donned the mask, grabbed a cape and started fighting.
“You know, I think everybody kind of understands from the last round,” said forward Tobias Harris, who had 20 points and eight rebounds. “We’ve been here before. So just staying relaxed. …
“I remember we were up 10 points, but it was kind of like just changing the narrative of our body language and our energy of, like, we still have 10 points, you know? It’s playoff basketball. Understand that they’ve made a little run here, but let’s put a halt to their run and really figure out a way to get back up in this game.”
That’s when Cade Cunningham decided to play Caped Crusader to Jalen Duren’s Boy Wonder – sorry, but 22-Year-Old Wonder doesn’t quite roll off the tongue – and find his center/sidekick with pinpoint passes on three straight possessions; the Pistons broke the tie with a 12-3 run for a 105-96 lead with 2:04 left.
“So I think we’ve learned a lot from the Orlando series as well to take us to this one,” Harris said. “And you know, for our whole entire team and our group is embracing this experience.
“It’s embracing playoff basketball, but it’s also staying ready and taking it moment by moment, game after game. And I think we were able to do that tonight, and you saw that in plays we were making offensively and defensively.”
Cunningham’s 23 points paced the offense, with Harris not far behind. Duncan Robinson had a strong shooting night, going 5-for-8 on 3s and finishing with 19 points.
Duren led the way in the paint with 12 rebounds and added 11 points. Ausar Thompson was at peak doggedness, grabbing eight rebounds and hassling Donovan Mitchell as much as he could. Daniss Jenkins continued to show his growth off the bench, adding 12 points but also playing determined defense and finishing with four steals.
Harris, a 14-year veteran who has donned the “Unc” cowl, called for more urgency in the Orlando series. He got it Tuesday night.
“I think we’re playing like a step quicker in terms of like our instincts on the floor,” he said. “Yeah, offensively and defensively, just moving, moving space we and we still could do better. There’s many plays out there with 50-50 basketballs that we have to get, we still have to dominate the dominate the game in terms of making those extra-effort winning plays.
“Those are huge in playoffs. Some of those are chase-down blocks. Some of those are – tonight, we turned it over, and DJ got the steal back. And you know, those type of momentum-shifting plays are huge in this type of environment and for our team.”
The Pistons did just about everything they wanted to do. The were physical and wore down the Cavs without sending them to the free throw line. They built a big lead, blew it and then got it back while refusing to panic.
But mostly, they proved again they know how to pick themselves up after they fall.
Contact Carlos Monarrez at cmonarrez@freepress.com and follow him on X @cmonarrez.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: From NBA playoffs’ depths, Detroit Pistons pick themselves up
Reporting by Carlos Monarrez, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
