Detroit takes 2-0 East semifinal lead after 107-97 Game 2 win

Detroit has control of this series now — real control, not the flimsy kind that disappears on the road. The Pistons beat the Cavaliers 107-97 in Game 2 on Thursday, took a 2-0 lead in the East semifinals, and did it with the same basic formula that won Game 1: pressure Cleveland’s offense, stay organized late, and let Cade Cunningham own the biggest possessions. Cleveland still has stars, still has time, and still gets the next two games at home. But the gap in poise has become the story. (apnews.com) ### Who actually swung Game 2? Cunningham was the center of it. He finished with 25 points and 10 assists, and 12 of those points came in the fourth quarter, when the game tightened and then tipped. Tobias Harris added 21, which mattered because Detroit didn’t need one giant solo act — it got shot-making from its lead guard and steady scoring from a veteran forward at the same time. (apnews.com)Donovan Mitchell scored 31. Jarrett Allen had 22. Cleveland also erased most of Detroit’s early cushion and got the game level in the final minutes. That is why this loss feels worse for the Cavs than a simple double-digit margin suggests — they fought their way back and still looked less reliable when every trip started to matter. (espn.com)lity and execution. Detroit hit 14 threes and shot 50% from deep. Cleveland made only 7 threes and shot 21.9% from beyond the arc. In a game that was tied late, that difference works like compound interest — every good Detroit possession stretched the floor, while Cleveland kept paying for misses. (sofascore.com)3-93 with just over five minutes left, Detroit finished better on both ends. Cunningham hit a pull-up 3 that felt like the dagger, and the Pistons closed the game with the kind of calm that usually belongs to teams with much deeper playoff mileage. Cleveland, by contrast, looked hurried. That’s the part that travels — not just the score, but the feel of the final five minutes. (espn.com) ### Is this just a hot-shooting blip? Maybe partly, but not mostly. Detroit has now won the first two games of the series, and both wins followed a similar script. The Pistons have been the more connected team. They’ve protected the ball better, generated cleaner perimeter looks, and kept Cleveland from turning talent into rhythm. When the same pattern shows up twice, it stops looking random. (nba.com) ###(espn.com)aturday, May 9, in Cleveland, and the Cavaliers no longer just need a response — they need to break the shape of the series before Detroit turns this into a stranglehold. A split in Detroit would have reset things. An 0-2 hole means every Cleveland mistake now gets read as potential season-ending material. (mmajunkie.usatoday.com)7502007/)) ### Why does 2-0 feel bigger here? Because Detroit doesn’t look surprised by any of this. The Pistons were the No. 1 seed, they’ve held home court, and they’ve looked like the team with the clearer late-game identity. Cleveland can still make this a series. But right now, Detroit looks like the team telling the story, and Cleveland looks like the team reacting to it. (mmajunkie.usatoday.com) Bottom line? This wasn’t just another Pistons win. It was Detroit showing that its best player can close, its supporting cast can hold up, and its structure can survive a playoff punch. Cleveland gets the next chance at home — but the pressure has already crossed the state line. (apnews.com)