Pistons beat Cavaliers 107-97

The Pistons are not just hanging around in this series anymore. They beat the Cavaliers 107-97 in Game 2 on Thursday, and now Detroit heads(apnews.com)upposed to be the stretch where Cleveland steadied itself after dropping the opener. Instead, Detroit looked calmer late again, and Cade Cunningham looked like the best player on the floor. (apnews.com) ### Why does this result matter so much? Becau(nba.com) Game 1, 111-101, so Game 2 was Cleveland’s chance to erase the early damage. Instead, the Pistons protected home court again and forced the Cavaliers into chase mode before the series even shifted cities. (nba.com) ### Who actually drove the win? Cunningham did. He finished with 25 points and 10 assists, and he controlled the game the way stars do in the playoffs — not just by sco(apnews.com) Detroit didn’t need one huge outlier night. The Pistons got their offense from the right places and their shot creation from the right guy. (apnews.com) ### What swung it in the fourth? The game was still there for Cleveland, bu(nba.com)an Robinson hit a go-ahead 3 with 9:40 left, and Cunningham later drilled another 3 that pushed the lead to nine with 2:12 remaining. That was basically the closing argument. Cleveland kept reaching, but Detroit kept answering. (espn.com) ### Was this a blowout the whole way? Not really. Detroit led 25-18 after one quarter and 54-43 at halftime, but Clev(apnews.com) The important part is what happened next — the Pistons didn’t wobble. They took the punch, reset, and won the fourth 28-22. (espn.com) ### What’s going wrong for Cleveland? The simple version is that Cleveland hasn’t owned crunch time, and Detroit has. Donovan Mitchell still produced, but the Cavalier(espn.com)ate. The NBA’s own Game 2 takeaway was blunt — Detroit defended better, made fewer mistakes, and got the better late-game shot-making from its star. That’s a rough combination to carry on the road. (nba.com) ### Is Detroit doing this with more than one gear? Yes — (espn.com)t Cunningham freelancing. Harris scored efficiently, Robinson delivered a huge shot, and Detroit’s defense kept enough pressure on Cleveland to make every comeback feel expensive. When a young team starts winning in different ways, it stops feeling fluky. (apnews.com) ### So what changes in Game 3? Venue, pressure, and probably Cleveland’s (nba.com)roof that their formula travels — defend, stay organized late, and let Cunningham dictate the last few minutes. A 2-0 lead does not end a series, but it does hand Detroit control of it. (nba.com) ### Bottom line Detroit didn’t just win another playoff game. The Pistons took Cleveland’s early answers away and turned this matchup into(apnews.com)at Detroit is up 2-0 — it’ll be if Cleveland can fully wrestle control back. (apnews.com)