The Detroit Pistons will be fighting to keep their playoff hopes alive when they head to Cleveland on Friday, May 15.
Trailing in the Eastern Conference semifinals, 3-2, they will look to stave off elimination in Game 6 against the Cleveland Cavaliers at Rocket Arena. The Pistons are coming off a Game 5 collapse at home, in which they allowed the Cavs to force overtime with a 9-0 run in the final three minutes of the fourth quarter.
A controversial no-call on a would-be Jarrett Allen foul on Ausar Thompson on the last possession of the game could’ve changed the outcome, but, really, the Pistons should’ve put the game away when they had the opportunity. Instead, they shot 0-for-6 down the stretch in the fourth and gave up a 9-2 run to open the extra period, in an eventual 117-113 loss.
“Tonight was tough,” Cade Cunningham, who finished with 39 points, nine assists and six rebounds, said. “Tough loss, obviously. We wanted to protect our home court. We failed to do that. Being up 3-2 is an advantage for them. It’s first to four wins, though. We know that. We’ve had our back against the wall before. At the end of the day if we can win a game on the road, how far are we really going to get in the playoffs, how far are we going to get in this league? So we’ve gotta go win a game on the road and that’s what we’re going to do.”
Here’s what they need to do to get back on track in Cleveland and force a Game 7 in Detroit.
1. Lean on Paul Reed as much as necessary
The Pistons’ third big was their best big for the third game in a row in Game 5. Reed played the entirety of the fourth quarter and overtime and finished with 10 points, eight rebounds and two blocks in a postseason-high 17 minutes.
Coach J.B. Bickerstaff increasingly has leaned on Reed more in second halves over Jalen Duren, who simply hasn’t produced enough. Duren logged 14 of the 24 minutes at center in the second half of Game 3, leaving 10 for Reed. In Game 4, Reed played 14 minutes to Duren’s 10. And on Wednesday, Reed replaced Duren entirely after the third quarter.
“I just thought P-Reed gives us that spark,” Bickerstaff said. “He’s always ready when the moment calls for it. Through that point I thought we had did a pretty good job. They made their run and P-Reed has been a run-stopper for us. Having him as a weapon is good for this team.”
For most of the playoffs, Duren has been trusted to close games regardless of his play leading up to it. No one else on the roster can provide his physicality and rebounding when he’s locked in, but he hasn’t been locked in enough. He’s not challenging enough shots at the time, grabbing enough rebounds or capitalizing on scoring opportunities.
Duren finished with nine points, five rebounds and four assists in 25 minutes on Wednesday. Reed is making his presence felt in fewer minutes, and is earning more responsibility with the series on the line. Duren acknowledged after Wednesday’s loss that he has to perform better and credited Reed for his play.
“My brothers handled it,” Duren said. “BBall came in ready to go and did his thing. As long as we can get the win. Obviously didn’t come out how we wanted it to today. Just gotta regroup, come back and bring it back to Detroit.”
[ To win Game 6, Pistons must flush Game 5, one of the worst collapses in Detroit sports history ]
2. Let Ausar Thompson wreck defensive havoc
The playoffs have deepened Thompson’s claim as the NBA’s best defender. That title will be contended as long as newly crowned Defensive Player of the Year Victor Wembanyama is around, but it’s hard to understate just how impactful Thompson has been on that end.
He was a one-man show in the fourth quarter on Wednesday, coming up with big blocks on Jarrett Allen midway through the period and on Donovan Mitchell at the end to send the game into overtime. All night, he alternated effortlessly between attaching himself to Mitchell and James Harden, while also staying active in passing lanes and on weakside rotations.
Bickerstaff mixed and matched Thompson’s minutes in the fourth quarter through most of the playoffs, trying to find the right balance of maximizing his defense while minimizing his offensive weaknesses. More often than not, Thompson’s defense has more than made up for his lack of shooting and downhill attacking. Wednesday was only the second time in five games this series that he played at least nine minutes in the fourth. It should be the norm.
3. Get Tobias Harris going again
The veteran forward scored at least 20 points in eight consecutive games before he came back to Earth in Game 4, finishing with 16 points on 6-for-17 shooting. On Wednesday, he dipped to 13 points on 6-for-19 shooting.
Harris has played some of the most consistent basketball of his career this postseason and stepped up offensively for a Pistons team lacking a secondary scoring punch beyond Cunningham. Unfortunately, they’re not equipped to make up for Harris’ lack of scoring when his shots aren’t falling.
It could take adjusting Harris’ role in the first half to keep him fresh late in games. He had solid starts to both Games 4 and 5, but went 1-for-5 from the floor in the second half on Wednesday and 0-for-8 in the second half on Monday. It’s getting deep into the playoffs, and the veteran forward may be wearing down.
Pistons vs Cavs prediction for Game 6
The Pistons have been resilient. A 3-1 series deficit wasn’t enough to bury them in Round 1, and they looked like the superior team in racing out to a 2-0 lead over the Cavaliers. It feels like it’s too soon to count this team out, even with momentum against them after three straight Cleveland wins. The pick: Pistons 107, Cavaliers 102.
Contact Omari Sankofa II at osankofa@freepress.com. Follow him on X and/or Bluesky.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: What Pistons must do to beat Cavs in Game 6 and keep season alive
Reporting by Omari Sankofa II, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
