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The Cleveland Cavaliers won a thriller over the Detroit Pistons behind some heroic shot-making from James Harden.
Let’s go over today’s winners and losers.
WINNER – The First Quarter
Hey, it turns out the Cavs can start a game ahead every once in a while. Not everything has to be an uphill battle.
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The Cavs won the first quarter 32-30. Nothing special. But it felt a whole lot better than falling behind by double digits as they did in the previous two games. Sometimes, just giving yourself a chance is all it takes.
Shooting above 70% from the floor didn’t hurt. Cleveland began the game red-hot. Donovan Mitchell and Jarrett Allen each scored 9 points in the opening quarter, shooting 8-for-11 combined. James Harden also chipped in with 5 points, starting this game significantly better than he did the previous one.
Again, no one wins a game in the first 12 minutes. But you can certainly kneecap yourself early, making the rest of the game a slog. The Cavs finally learned that lesson and started Game 3 with the appropriate energy.
WINNER – Donovan Mitchell
I don’t think it’s an overreaction to say this entire Cavs team is built around the idea of Donovan Mitchell being one of the best playoff performers in the league. If you take that away, the Cavs aren’t a serious contender.
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But when he’s playing like the superhero we know and love? This team feels like it has a fighting chance.
Mitchell web-slinged his way to 20 points on 8-12 shooting in the first half. He cooked in isolation, burning Duncan Robinson to a crisp with his step-back jumper. Then, moments after throwing an impressive alley oop to Evan Mobley, he worked his way downhill and dropped a dime to Allen in the dunker spot.
This type of efficient scoring and processing speed as a playmaker is what we’ve been missing from Mitchell. He established himself as a threat and then used that against the defense to create opportunities for others.
Spida finished with 35 points, 10 rebounds, and 4 assists.
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LOSER – Offensive Rebounding
Detroit beat the Cavs 17-5 on the offensive glass.
While that’s a problem, it wasn’t…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/winners-losers-cavs-vs-pistons-224500127.html
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Publish date : 2026-05-09 22:45:00
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