Cavaliers beat Pistons 117-113 in OT

The Cleveland Cavaliers left Detroit with their first road win of the 2026 playoffs on May 13, beating the Pistons 117-113 in overtime to move within one win of the Eastern Conference finals. Cleveland trailed 103-94 with a little more than two minutes left in regulation before closing the fourth quarter on a rally that forced overtime. (nba.com) James Harden scored 30 points for Cleveland, and Donovan Mitchell added 21 as the Cavaliers took a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven series. Cade Cunningham scored 39 points with nine assists for Detroit in 48 minutes, but the Pistons were held scoreless for a five-minute stretch spanning the end of regulation and the start of overtime. ### How did Cleveland get out of a game it looked set to lose? Detroit led by nine points, 103-94, with just over two minutes remaining in regulation, according to the NBA game recap. Cleveland tied the score at 103 on Evan Mobley’s free throws with 45.2 seconds left, then carried the momentum into overtime. The Cavaliers put together a 13-0 run from late in the fourth quarter into overtime, and the Pistons did not score for five minutes during that stretch. Donovan Mitchell’s 3-pointer with 2:39 left in overtime pushed Cleveland ahead by seven points. (nba.com) ### Which players drove the result? James Harden finished with 30 points, eight rebounds, six assists and three blocks in 43:05, the NBA box score showed. Donovan Mitchell scored 21 points, Max Strus added 20 on 6-for-8 shooting from 3-point range, and Evan Mobley had 19 points, eight rebounds and eight assists. (nba.com) Cade Cunningham kept Detroit in front for most of the night with 39 points, nine assists and six made 3-pointers. Daniss Jenkins scored 19 points, Tobias Harris had 13, and Paul Reed added 10 points and eight rebounds off the bench. (nba.com) ### What did the coaches say about the closing stretch? Kenny Atkinson said Cleveland’s late push reflected the team’s poise after falling behind by 15 points in the first half and nine late in regulation. “That stretch right there says a lot about our progress - mental performance progress and mental toughness progress,” the Cavaliers coach said, according to the NBA recap. (nba.com) J.B. Bickerstaff focused on the final possession of regulation, when Jarrett Allen and Ausar Thompson got tangled up and no foul was called. “He fouled Ausar - clearly,” the Pistons coach said. “He tripped him when he was going for a loose ball.” (nba.com) ### How unusual was this win for Cleveland in these playoffs? Wednesday’s result was Cleveland’s first road victory of the 2026 postseason, the NBA recap said. The Cavaliers had dropped their first two games of the series before winning three straight to turn a 2-0 deficit into a 3-2 lead. (nba.com) The series results listed by NBA.com show Detroit won Game 1 by 10 points and Game 2 by 10 points in Cleveland before the Cavaliers answered with wins in Games 3, 4 and 5. Cleveland won Game 5 despite shooting 45.0% from the field to Detroit’s 44.2% and committing 16 turnovers to the Pistons’ 10. (nba.com) ### What comes next in the series? Game 6 is scheduled for Friday, May 15, at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in Cleveland, with tipoff set for 7 p.m. ET on Prime Video, according to NBA.com’s playoff schedule. (nba.com) Cleveland enters that game with its first chance to eliminate Detroit and advance to face the New York Knicks in the Eastern Conference finals. If Detroit wins, Game 7 is scheduled for Sunday, May 17, in Detroit. (nba.com)