Pistons’ refusal to swing big culminates with embarrassing Game 7 loss at home

As the NBA trade deadline approached in early February, the Detroit Pistons were cruising toward the Eastern Conference’s No. 1 seed while the Cleveland Cavaliers found themselves in a dogfight for home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs.

For Cleveland, the stakes were sky high: If this roster didn’t advance deep into the postseason, everything would be on the table, from firing coach Kenny Atkinson to parting ways with star guard Donovan Mitchell. In Detroit, the vibes were much different. Despite a huge leap last season, nobody expected the Pistons to ascend to the top of the East this quickly. The No. 1 seed felt like a bonus.

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At that moment, the two teams took very different paths. Sensing the need to shake things up, Cleveland took a huge swing, pairing Mitchell with James Harden to create one of the league’s most dynamic offensive backcourts. Detroit, ensconced in the comfort of having home-court advantage throughout the East playoffs, made a minor deal for Kevin Huerter to add some shooting to its bench.

Guess which team likes its choice better today.

If there’s a lesson to be learned from the Cavaliers’ 125-94 win Sunday night in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference semifinals, it’s this: In the modern NBA, there’s no time to waste.

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Windows are too short. Salary caps are too punitive. And when you have a chance to improve an already good team, you ignore it at your own peril.

Yes, it’s much easier after a Game 7 beatdown to say the Pistons should have done something more significant to bolster their roster 2 ½ months ago when it looked like they were dominating the Eastern Conference.

But it was also foreseeable that a relatively young team led by a star in Cade Cunningham and a bunch of role players would eventually run into a playoff opponent with a little more postseason juice.

In the NBA most of us grew up with, such an ignominious playoff exit would be viewed as a step in the progression toward true contender status. But that NBA no longer exists. With a restrictive salary cap, young players starting to come up for contract extensions and no prime…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/nba/article/pistons-refusal-to-swing-big-culminates-with-embarrassing-game-7-loss-at-home-031647089.html

Author : Dan Wolken

Publish date : 2026-05-18 03:16:00

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