Pistons pull away late, beat Cavaliers 107-97 to take 2-0 East semifinal lead

Detroit has stopped looking like a cute playoff story. It looks like a real problem. The Pistons beat the Cavaliers 107-97 in Game 2 on Thursday, May 7, and the score almost undersells how firmly they controlled the night. Cleveland made runs. Detroit answered every one. Then Cade Cunningham took over late again, and now the East semifinal has a shape nobody expected this quickly — Pistons up 2-0, Cavaliers chasing. (ESPN; NBA.com) ### Why does 2-0 feel so big here? Because this is not a split on the road or some fluky one-possession swing. Detroit won Game 1, then came back in Game 2 and led for most of the night again. The Pistons were up 54-43 at halftime, weathered Cleveland’s third-quarter push, then won the fourth 28-22. That is control, not chaos. (ESPN; Sofascore) ### What did Cunningham actually do? He had 25 points and 10 assists, but the important part is when the points came. Cunningham scored 12 in the fourth quarter, including the kind of pull-up and step-back jumpers that end arguments. When Cleveland got the game into striking distance, Detroit stopped improvising and just let its best player settle it. That is what stars are for in May. (ESPN; NBA.com) ### Was it only the Cade show? No — and that is part of why this gets scary for Cleveland. Tobias Harris added 21 points. Detroit also got timely shooting around Cunningham, especially from Duncan Robinson, whose spacing kept Cleveland from loading the paint every trip. The Pistons did not need one nuclear scoring night. They got balance, which is harder to scheme away. (ESPN; The Athletic via context provided) ### Where did the game really swing? From 3-point range, basically. Detroit went 14-for-28 from deep. Cleveland went 7-for-32. That is a 21-point gap from the same shot zone, and you do not survive that very often against a team that is already defending well. Detroit also won the rebounding battle 42-36 and grabbed 12 offensive boards, which meant extra possessions on top of the shooting edge. (Sofascore; ESPN) ### What happened to Cleveland’s offense? It got messy at the worst times. The Cavaliers had a strong third quarter, but they never found clean late-game rhythm. James Harden, a huge engine for Cleveland in this version of the team, struggled to score efficiently and had turnover issues, which kept possessions from turning into pressure. When your lead ballhandler is fighting the game instead of controlling it, every comeback gets heavier. (NBA.com; Newsday) ### Is Detroit doing this with defense too? Yes — that is the backbone of the whole thing. Detroit has size, enough perimeter resistance, and the discipline to avoid giving Cleveland easy counters. The Pistons are not just surviving high-leverage minutes. They are dictating where those minutes happen. Cleveland keeps getting pushed into tougher shots, later-clock decisions, and possessions that feel rushed even when the score is still close. (NBA.com; game flow from ESPN) ### So what changes now? The series shifts to Cleveland for Game 3 on Saturday, May 9, with the Cavaliers suddenly in urgency mode. A 2-0 hole is one thing. A 3-0 hole is the end. That means Cleveland has to clean up the Harden possessions, hit far more threes, and keep Cunningham from owning the fourth quarter again. Simple to say — much harder now that Detroit has shown this formula twice. (ESPN; AP game preview via MSN) ### Bottom line? Detroit did not steal two games. It earned two games. And once a young team proves it can close, the series stops being about potential and starts being about pressure — most of it now sitting on Cleveland.