Pistons vs. Cavs final score: Detroit falls thanks to late errors

Cade Cunningham was having a bad game, the Cleveland Cavaliers were shooting a billion percent from the floor, James Harden was hitting everything and yet, somehow, some way, the Detroit Pistons were up 101-100 with just under five minutes to play. It was their opportunity to go up 3-0 and take full control of the series. Everything seemed to fall apart from then on, mostly because Cade Cunningham made a series of baffling errors that stymied the comeback.

Detroit ended up losing 116-109, but this was an especially tough one to lose with everything that was on the line, battling back from a 17-point deficit, and seemingly having the game there for the taking. The game was tied at 104, but then Cunningham committed three critical turnovers on consecutive possessions.

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The first was an exceedingly lazy attempt at an entry pass on a sideline out of bounds that was easily intercepted by the face guarding Max Strus, leading to an easy layup and a Cleveland lead. Then, an ill-advised attempt at an entry pass into Paul Reed was swallowed up by Jarret Allen. Finally, Cade drove the lane and blindly passed it into the corner but Harris was camped out above the breakline. He scrambled to get the ball but couldn’t corrall it without stepping out of bounds. The Cavs then doubled their lead to four after Harden patiently hit a stepback 15-footer. That two-possession lead flipped all the momentum in the game.

Cunningham attempted to make amends with five quick points on a dunk and a ballsy top-of-the-key three, but Harden answered right back with five of his own. And that was effectively ballgame.

Truthfully, I’m not sure the Pistons even deserved to be in it. They never really seemed like they’d put it all together on either of the floor, and a lot of players struggled tonight outside of the up-and-down play of Cunningham.

Daniss Jenkins looked every bit the minus-28 in his 18 minutes of action, and while JB Bickerstaff tried to alleviate that with some Caris LeVert minutes, those weren’t stellar either and meant Cuninningham wasn’t able to steal as much rest as you’d like.

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Publish date : 2026-05-09 22:18:00

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