Los Angeles (United States) (AFP) – Cade Cunningham scored 23 points as the Detroit Pistons held off a second-half rally to beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 111-101 and take a 1-0 lead in their NBA Eastern Conference semi-final playoff series on Tuesday. The top-seeded Pistons looked to be cruising to a comfortable opening win after dominating in the first half and taking a 17-point lead in the third period.
But a spirited Cleveland rally saw the Cavaliers close to within four points before Detroit finally pulled clear again in the fourth quarter to seal victory. Cunningham was one of six Detroit players to finish in double figures, with Tobias Harris adding 20 points while Duncan Robinson bagged five three-pointers on his way to a 19-point haul at the Pistons’ Little Caesars Arena. Daniss Jenkins added 12 points from the bench with Ausar Thompson and Jalen Duren scoring 11 points apiece.
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Donovan Mitchell led Cleveland with 23 points, including four three-pointers, while James Harden scored 22 points with eight rebounds and seven assists. “It was a great team win — defending the ball, rebounding the ball,” Cunningham told NBC television. “We’ve got a great system in place. You’ve got somebody that will come in behind you whenever you get tired. But it’s one win; we’ve got to come back and do it again.”
Detroit had battled into the conference semi-finals after coming back from 3-1 down to defeat Orlando 4-3 in the first round. Cunningham said the Pistons are anxious to avoid a repeat. “At home, you’ve got to protect home court. We didn’t do that in the last series, so we want to do that this series,” Cunningham said. “They want to come in and steal one, so we’ve got to do this again the day after tomorrow.”
© 2024 AFP
