But does it carry over? That’s the big question. A hangover, you feel the next morning. An Oscar win, you revel in the next day. But an NBA comeback for the ages — after a near-collapse that would have sent you home to a depressed offseason? What’s the follow-through on that?
We are in uncharted waters here, folks, on Sunday, May 3, at Little Caesars Arena, where the Detroit Pistons will take on Orlando in Game 7 of this first-round NBA playoff series, one which already feels like a season unto itself, a Russian novel of fits and starts, herks and jerks, heroes and villains.
What we witnessed in Game 6 will be talked about for a long time. But not so long if the Pistons don’t bring it home in Sunday afternoon’s finale. The simple truth is, what Detroit did in Orlando: rising from the dead, turning a 24-point deficit into a 14-point win, holding the opponent to less than 11% shooting — in a half! — cannot go unfinished.
The Pistons must win this series to have that validated as one of the greatest comebacks in NBA history.
Otherwise, it’s wasted beauty, like a botched baton pass on a world-record pace, or stealing the crown jewels and then accidentally dropping them down a sewer grate.
“The teams that make runs in the playoff get better throughout series as they advance,” said Duncan Robinson, who had his best game of this postseason with 14 points and five rebounds in Game 6. “We’re getting better. That should be encouraging.”
It would be, if Detroit didn’t seem to require one big step backward to take two steps forward.
‘A lot of pride in that locker room’
Let’s be honest. That amazing second half Friday night came on the heels of a first half you want to bury in the backyard. In a game the Pistons absolutely had to have, they came out flat as cardboard and as energized as a sloth. They scored 38 points for the entire half, their lowest output for a half the entire season!
In a must-win elimination game?
Their offense was discombobulated. Their defense was late. Rebounds were stolen away by Orlando, and, at one point, the Magic had 10 straight baskets off 10 straight assists, which means Detroit was slow to the passer and the shooter.
Cade Cunningham, the team’s heartbeat, made just three of eight shots with one assist in that half. Later, after the incredible comeback, he told the media, “We weren’t going to lay down for anything.”
Then why start the game like a Saturday morning in bed?
Detroit’s hole-digging has been a major storyline in this series, and it’s happened not only in their defeats but in their wins. If, as Robinson says, this group is improving, if it hopes to be one of a handful of NBA franchises to come back from a 3-1 deficit and capture a series, that’s something that has to disappear before Game 7.
Because a team that is clearly challenged for secondary scoring beyond Cunningham cannot keep putting itself 10 or 15 points behind the opponent, then saying, “Don’t worry, we’ll catch up.” More often than not, that kind of play catches up to you, not the other way around.
“Backs against the wall, we’re pretty comfortable,” Robinson said. “There’s never a question of [us] splintering. I’ve been a part of teams in the past when things get sideways, people splinter. This group does the opposite. It finds a way to just come together. There’s a lot of pride in that locker room in not wanting to go out like that.”
Great. Here’s the best way to avoid that. Game 7s are traditionally tight, and the pressure is enormous, be it on the road, where fans rattle you like thunder, or at home, where the desire to please the fans can be its own heavy weight.
Shots often come up short, or clank. Your touch can disappear. The most effective weapon against this, and the surest way to win a series finale, is to constantly do the one thing that doesn’t require finesse, steady nerves or deadeye calm.
It’s called defense.
And Detroit knows defense.
Effort and attitude are keys
When they study the film of Game 6’s comeback, the most impressive thing won’t be Cunningham’s calm 3-pointers or steady drives that led to his 24 second-half points — which exceeded Orlando’s entire offensive output of 19 points during that stretch.
No. What we’ll marvel at is the defensive sparks. Cade’s four steals. Paul Reed’s four blocks. Ausur Thompson rising to swat away a Desmond Bane jumper, poking a ball loose from Wendell Carter Jr. for a fast break, or — and you all saw it — this pièce de résistance:
With Orlando still leading by 10, Robinson threw a bad pass over Cunningham’s head. He dove for it, but lost it to Paolo Banchero, the Magic’s best player, who raced free toward a fastbreak layup. Thompson raced down to establish position, fronted Banchero at the rim and took the blow of his body while cleanly rejecting his shot — back into Cunningham’s hands.
Moments like that not only keep points off the board, they demoralize the opponent and make them hesitant next time downcourt.
“We have guys that can just do freakish things,” Robinson said. “I mean, AT [Thompson] this series has just done things that’s I’ve never seen on a basketball court.”
They will need to do them again on Sunday. The blocks. The steals. Staying home on long-range shooters. Fronting the Magic out top before they can get their beloved downhill game going. This is what Detroit must do and — good news here — knows how to do. It’s all effort at this point.
Effort, and attitude. Thirty-eight years ago, before a decisive Game 6 against the Boston Celtics, Bill Laimbeer brought a duffel bag into the Pistons locker room and removed a toy sickle. “To kill a snake,” he told his teammates, “you have to cut off its head.”
If the Pistons come out with that approach, they will likely steal the will of a still shell-shocked Magic team, and complete a comeback for the ages.
Does it carry over? Will Detroit lock away those stolen jewels from Game 6, or fumble them away in a loss of concentration? For all the euphoria of Friday night, the Pistons must remember this come tipoff Sunday afternoon: An early hole, another inexplicable letdown, and anything can happen.
It already has.
Contact Mitch Albom: malbom@freepress.com. Check out the latest updates on his charities, books and events at MitchAlbom.com. Follow @mitchalbom on x.com.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Mitch Albom: Do Detroit Pistons have finishing touch in Game 7?
Reporting by Mitch Albom, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
