Cleveland Cavaliers win Game 5

The Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Detroit Pistons 117-113 in overtime on Wednesday night at Little Caesars Arena, taking a 3-2 lead in their Eastern Conference semifinal series. Cleveland trailed 103-94 with just over two minutes left in regulation before forcing overtime on Evan Mobley’s free throws with 45.2 seconds remaining, according to the NBA and the Associated Press. James Harden led Cleveland with 30 points, eight rebounds and six assists, while Donovan Mitchell added 21 points and Max Strus scored 20. Cade Cunningham scored 39 points for Detroit, but the Pistons were held scoreless for a five-minute stretch spanning the end of regulation and the middle of overtime. ### How did Cleveland get from down nine late to a Game 5 win? Cleveland closed regulation on a 9-0 run and finished the game on a 23-10 run, according to NBA.com. The Cavaliers tied the score at 103-103 on Mobley’s free throws, then outscored Detroit 14-10 in overtime. (nba.com) The Pistons had led by as many as 15 points in the first half and still held a nine-point edge with a little more than two minutes left in the fourth quarter. Cleveland then turned late stops and free throws into extra time, and Mitchell’s 3-pointer put the Cavaliers ahead by seven with 2:39 left in overtime. James Harden made one free throw with 24.4 seconds left in overtime, grabbed his own rebound after missing the second and then added another free throw on the next trip to help close it out, the NBA live recap said. (nba.com) ### Which players drove the result? James Harden’s 30 points were his playoff high, according to the Associated Press and NBA.com. (nba.com) He also had eight rebounds and six assists as Cleveland won its first road game of the postseason. Cade Cunningham finished with 39 points and either nine assists and nine rebounds, according to the AP game recap, or seven rebounds and nine assists in the NBA live blog; both sources agreed he was Detroit’s top scorer by a wide margin. (nba.com) Tobias Harris scored 13 points, and Daniss Jenkins added 19 for Detroit, NBA.com said. Max Strus gave Cleveland 20 points and hit six of eight 3-point attempts, while Mobley added 19 points, eight rebounds and eight assists, according to NBA.com. (nba.com) Mitchell, who entered the series as Cleveland’s leading scorer, finished with 21 points in what NBA.com described as an off night by his standards. ### What did the coaches say about the closing stretch? Kenny Atkinson said Cleveland’s late push reflected the group’s composure. “That stretch right there says a lot about our progress - mental performance progress and mental toughness progress,” the Cavaliers coach said, according to the AP recap on NBA.com. J.B. Bickerstaff focused on a no-call in the final seconds of regulation. “He fouled Ausar - clearly,” the Pistons coach said after Jarrett Allen and Ausar Thompson got tangled up while chasing a loose ball just before the buzzer, according to the same recap. (nba.com) James Harden called Detroit’s defense “very, very, very crazy” and said Cleveland had to make sure its “mindset is right” at the start of the next game, NBA.com reported. (nba.com) ### How unusual was this Game 5 swing? NBA.com said the game featured 11 lead changes and nine ties. (nba.com) The site also said teams that win Game 5 of a playoff series tied 2-2 have gone on to take the series 81.7% of the time. The result flipped a series that Detroit had once led 2-0. (nba.com) Cleveland has now won three straight games, including Game 5 on the road after opening the postseason 0-5 away from home, according to NBA.com’s game and series pages. ### When is Game 6 and what comes next? Game 6 is scheduled for Friday, May 15, at 7 p.m. ET in Cleveland on Prime Video, according to NBA.com’s game summary and series page. (nba.com) If Detroit wins, Game 7 would be Sunday, May 17, back in Detroit. The NBA series page says the winner of Cavaliers-Pistons will face the New York Knicks in the Eastern Conference finals. (nba.com) Cleveland enters Friday with its first chance to clinch the series after recovering from an 0-2 deficit.