Detroit — Eminem was sitting courtside with 50 Cent. Detroit basketball royalty sat nearby, as Isiah Thomas and Ben Wallace looked on.
But home cooking only takes you so far in the NBA playoffs. Especially when you call Detroit home, apparently.
That was the angry initial reaction Wednesday night, as the Pistons let a pivotal Game 5 slip away Wednesday night at Little Caesars Arena, with no help to be found for Cade Cunningham and certainly none offered by the officials.
But whether you want to blame the whistles that blew for most of the night or the one that didn’t when Detroit needed it most, you can’t ignore the plays the Pistons failed to make, either. And after watching a nine-point lead evaporate in the final few minutes of regulation, some glaring mistakes in overtime ultimately sealed Detroit’s fate in a 117-113 loss.
Cunningham scored a game-high 39 points Wednesday, but he also committed a costly turnover in overtime — “I wish I could have that play back, for sure,” he said, after Max Strus picked his pocket — and then appeared to miss a free-throw cutout with 22 seconds left in what was still a one-possession game.
“But it’s basketball,” he said. “It’s an imperfect game.”
And on a night where the Pistons were poised to take control of this best-of-seven series, that ugly finish was a perfect example of that, I suppose. Especially the way regulation ended.
The Cavaliers put the ball in the hands of star guard Donovan Mitchell, but some terrific defense by Ausar Thompson ended with him knocking the ball loose on Mitchell’s attempted floater. Then came the controversy, though, as Thompson tried to chase down the loose ball and was tripped up by Cleveland’s Jarrett Allen. Thompson went sprawling to the floor with 1.7 seconds left as the ball bounced out of bounds.
Veteran referee Tony Brothers was right in front of the play but didn’t blow his whistle. Thompson was livid about the no-call, as was J.B. Bickerstaff, who came charging out on the court to argue after time expired and the two teams were headed to overtime. The ESPN announcing crew also sounded a bit incredulous there was no foul called on the play, and if there had been, Thompson would’ve been at the free-throw line with a chance to win it in regulation because the Cavs were over the foul limit.
“He fouled Ausar,” Bickerstaff said. “It’s clear. He trips him when he’s going for a loose ball. End-of-game situation, that’s tough.”
That’s what they’ve come to expect, though, as this series has shifted dramatically, from a 2-0 series lead after the first two games in Detroit to this ominous task the Pistons are facing now, headed back to Cleveland, where the Cavs are a perfect 6-0 thus far in the postseason.
The Pistons shot 35 free throws in Game 1 of this series, then shot 34 combined in the two games in Cleveland. And after he felt his team had gotten jobbed in Game 4 on Monday, Bickerstaff called that disparity “unacceptable,” suggesting the shift was due to Kenny Atkinson’s complaints about Detroit’s physical play.
Game 5 didn’t go any better on that count for the Pistons, who were called for 10 more fouls (26 to 16) and shot 18 fewer free throws on their home court. So that end-of-regulation no-call was just another in a growing stack of grievances.
“We’re the Pistons,” scoffed Daniss Jenkins, who scored 19 points while making his first career playoff start in place of an injured Duncan Robinson on Wednesday. “We know it was a foul, but we don’t expect that (to be called).”
He insisted the Pistons didn’t let that “linger” into overtime, either. It didn’t matter, though, because the Pistons already looked flustered, failing to score a point in the final 3 minutes after a Tobias Harris three-pointer put them up 103-94.
In that stretch, the Pistons missed their final six shots and twice committed turnovers on shot-clock violations. And with the Cavaliers trapping Cunningham and forcing others to beat them, they ultimately couldn’t.
“We ain’t supposed to lose that lead like that, man,” Jenkins said. “We’ve gotta be better, gotta execute better. Defensively we gave up too many timely 3s.”
They gave up too many offensive rebounds as well down the stretch, as the Cavaliers, who’d trailed by as many as 15 earlier in the night, once again looked like the team with more playoff experience.
And now that team holds home-court advantage, which is a problem for the Pistons. Because the Cavaliers are a perfect 6-0 at home in these playoffs.
john.niyo@detroitnews.com
@JohnNiyo
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Niyo: Pistons’ won’t easily shake this Game 5 collapse
Reporting by John Niyo, The Detroit News / The Detroit News
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