The Cleveland Cavaliers stunned the Pistons in Detroit, coming back from a 15-digit deficit to win Game 5 in overtime. It looked like it would be a quick series because Detroit seized the first two outings, but now it shifts back to Cleveland for the sixth confrontation.

 

It’s not over but the winner of a Game 5 after being tied 2-2 advances 81.5 percent of the time.

 

Props in order: James Harden, who has taken relentless criticism for his playoff performances, came through with his best game of the series, which included a combined 18 points between the second and third quarters. He kept putting pressure on the defense by getting to the line, which took pressure off Donovan Mitchell, who didn’t step up until overtime. 

 

Harden’s play of the night was recovering an offensive rebound off his own missed free throw while the Cavs were up three points with 24.4 seconds left. He even cranked up his defense after Cade Cunningham locked him up, by putting pressure on the ball and forcing misses. 

 

Additionally, Evan Mobley found his groove in the second half, finding shooters and cutters out of the short roll, plus he scored on two rim strikes and two 3-pointers, which included the shot to cut the deficit to two points with 82 seconds left of the fourth quarter. 

 

And mad Max Strus was the perfect release valve, nailing six 3-pointers, and had one pivotal play of overtime when he stripped Cunningham in Detroit’s territory and flicked the ball to Mitchell for a pick-6. Coach Kenny Atkinson quickly mentioned that play when asked about one that stood out to him. 

 

The Pistons were affected by Duncan Robinson’s absence (sore back) by not having a reliable punisher when Cunningham was doubled. It was also impossible to ignore Tobias Harris remembering he’s a mortal, and J.B. Bickerstaff, the Cavaliers’ former coach, benching his brawny big man, Jalen Duren, for the third-stringer Paul Reed (remember him Doc Rivers?), who didn’t play scared and logged every minute of the fourth quarter. 

 

Each series is different because of the matchups, but the Pistons can at least tell themselves that they’ve been in this situation before versus Orlando, and believe they are capable of an encore. But the Cavs are undefeated in these playoffs at home. 

 

Additionally, the Cavaliers are on the verge of going to their first conference finals since 2018, which was LeBron James’ last year with the team. A good case could be made that Mitchell has been the organization’s second-best player ever in his four tours with them. 

 

The series is in the equivalent of the championship rounds in boxing — regardless of how much longer it goes, it’s been a delight to witness the Cavaliers-Pistons rivalry reborn.

Surprisingly, the Atlanta Hawks are not a Doc Rivers team. 

 

One could have looked at Cory Kispert playing, realizing that they had conceded, or checked the scoreboard highlighting a 47-point disparity at halftime. That was the largest lead at intermission in NBA playoff history courtesy of the Knicks sacking State Farm Arena.

 

OG Anunoby unfastened the defense with a scourge of jumpers and the others followed his lead by going to the body without restraint. 

 

A good chunk of the crowd remained seated to get as much of their money’s worth as possible, and other Hawks fans got a headstart on traffic as the team’s starters lasted between nine and 11 more minutes before yielding undignifiedly. Former top pick Zaccharie Risacher started the inconsequential second half, and Jalen Johnson wasn’t as invisible, but it didn’t matter. Former Knicks Walt “Clyde” Frazier and Allan Houston sat next to each other, satisfied with the slaughter. 

 

Philadelphia forces Game 7 

 

Joel Embiid’s presence has changed the series after a rough stretch in Game 4. His playmaking is putting tons of pressure on the Celtics, and he has picked up his scoring accuracy, particularly outside of the lane. On the other side, the Celtics have forgotten how to convert free throws and 3-pointers in their last two outings. Notably, they’ve been awful in the corners, which is the easiest shot in the NBA. 

 

Even if the Celtics, who typically take care of business at home during Game 7s, advance, they’ve been exposed a bit by losing two games at home. Keep in mind that Tyrese Maxey and Embiid went berserk in Game 5, and their combination of speed and strength are a problem for the Cs. Game 7 is on Saturday and the winner will play the New York Knicks.

Nuggets eliminated 

 

What was supposed to be a special season ended coldly in Minnesota with the team undermanned against the depleted Timberwolves, and with Jaden McDaniels, the one who said the Nuggets were all bad defenders, emerging as the best player. It should sting the Kroenke family even more that Tim Connelly, who left Denver for Minnesota almost four years ago, is responsible for two of the last three teams that have eliminated the Nuggets.

 

Imagine if ownership had paid the big bucks to keep Connelly around. 

 

It’s been a stream of shortcomings since the Nuggets won the title in 2023, and they’ve gotten further away from what the golden era of Nuggets hoops. They’re stale and now hungrier, better teams have risen.

 

Minnesota’s pressure prevented Jamal Murray from getting loose like he had in his All-Star regular season. As a result, the team couldn’t generate enough offense around Jokić, even with Cam Johnson having one of his rare high-scoring nights, and they took 19 less shots than Minnesota. 

 

Jokić is eligible for a contract extension this summer, and he says he wants to be a Nugget forever, but putting a contender around him will only get harder. He also shielded coach David Adelman as much as he could from blame, yet he notably didn’t want to make injuries the main excuse for not advancing. 

 

Still, that doesn’t change the fact that they were always at a significant disadvantage without Aaron Gordon’s two-way presence. The concerning part for the team is that injuries have compromised him the last two seasons when he’s been needed the most. Now there’s a big decision to make if he’s still a part of the team’s future, considering everything is magnified to extend Jokić’s prime. 

 

Now the Wolves, without Anthony Edwards (left knee hyperextension), Donte DiVincenzo (torn right achilles) and Ayo Dosunmu (sore right calf), will start round two against the San Antonio Spurs on Monday.

The Cleveland Cavaliers haven’t advanced to a Conference Finals and Finals since 2018, which was LeBron James’ last year with them.

 

They are tied with the Toronto Raptors and Game 5 is in Cleveland on Wednesday. The stakes couldn’t be higher for the Cavs in year four of the Donovan Mitchell experience. Coach Kenny Atkinson says his most important role is making sure his players don’t get too high or too low.

 

In this series, defense and physicality have been the story. The Raptors are a long, fast and athletic team, and while the Cavs are more talented, they are smaller at times and some of their big guys are not significantly powerful, despite their skills.

 

No team has lost at home yet. If that trend continues, the Raptors won’t make it out of the first round, but they’ve tested the Wine and Gold in ways that don’t make it encouraging for their prospects against the Orlando Magic or Detroit Pistons. They’ve had trouble guarding Scottie Barnes, RJ Barrett and Collin Murray-Boyles, and they are shooting between 52.3 and 65.9 percent against Cleveland. They are not a super trio but it’s a bad matchup for the Cavs. At some instances it looks like the Cavs are a team of super middleweights competing against light heavyweights. 

 

The Magic are now dealing with Franz Wagner’s calf injury, but they still have Paolo Banchero and Desmond Bane, two strong, dynamic scorers. The Pistons are down 3-1 in that series and while it looks bleak, it’s not over. If they manage to beat the Magic, they’ll be affected by not having a high-level shot creator next to Cunningham, but the way he, Ausar Thompson, Jalen Duren and Isaiah Stewart can pressure opponents should not be underestimated.  They’ve been the biggest reasons why the Magic are shooting 38.7 percent in the series.

 

Notably, every winner of Game 1 in the first round of the 2025 playoffs won their series. The only team that won Game 1 in this year’s postseason that is behind is the Denver Nuggets, down 3-2 to the Minnesota Timberwolves. Yet most importantly, since 1984, the winner of a Game 5 when a series is tied a 2-2 advances 81.5 percent of the time, per the NBA’s Facts and Figures.

 

Quick note on the San Antonio Spurs 

 

The Spurs finished off the Portland Trail Blazers in five games. Keep in mind that they missed Victor Wembanyama from early in Game 2’s loss because of a nasty concussion, and won the next one without him on the road, coming back from down 15 points with 17 minutes left in Game 3. They couldn’t be stopped when Wemby came back and now they are sitting pretty, waiting for the winners of the Denver- Minnesota series. 

 

The Nuggets have the mighty Nikola Jokić and Jamal Murray, but the team struggles to defend the perimeter, and their coverages are even more compromised with Aaron Gordon’s calf injury. And the Timberwolves lost Donte DiVincenzo to a torn Achilles tendon, and it’s unclear when Anthony Edwards will be back after hyperextending his left knee. Edwards was already dealing with knee trouble on the right side. 

 

Regardless of who the Spurs see, they will have the edge.

 

The Orlando Magic are on the verge of becoming the seventh team in NBA history to beat the first seed as the eighth. Game 4 easily became one of the most important in franchise history considering the stakes and how they handled the rough times that could have flipped the edge like a light switch. 

 

Both defenses were implacable, and as a result, 3-point makes dropped few and far between, and each felt like body shots. 

 

It was obvious the game was headed for classic territory when the Pistons shook off five straight turnovers and quickly climbed out of a 12-point ditch. Franz Wagner and Desmond Bane carried the Magic to a two-point lead at halftime, but the former only played close to seven more minutes because of a calf issue. The third period was also like a mud-wrestling match with bodies bumping and coverages yielding close to nothing. 

 

Wagner’s absence forced Jamal Cain, who had his contract converted to a standard from a two-way on March 20, to step up big-time by playing 17 second-half minutes. He jammed the dunk of the playoffs (so far) by coming up court, viciously baptizing Jalen Duren, and had a mean putback late in the game that were emotional plays that lifted the team.

 

His pressure on-ball and as a helper made him more reliable than Anthony Black and Tristan da Silva, who are not bad defenders but lack Cain’s extra level of physicality. 

 

 Bane had missed his first four shots of the fourth quarter, but redeemed himself and rescued the team, dropping a 29-foot bank-triple on a screen-roll over Isaiah Stewart. Only 76 seconds remained and the Magic held on to their six-point lead to take a gripping 3-1 advantage.

 

The series now returns to Detroit. Keep in mind that the Pistons won 15 more regular-season games yet they tied 2-2 against each other before the playoffs. Notably, Banchero missed one win and Wagner missed the other, but the Pistons did not have Cade Cunningham for the April 6 game because he was recovering from a collapsed lung.

 

The Magic had a turbulent regular season, but turned into the team they were expected to be at the right time. They had belief in themselves and a lot credit goes to coach Jamahl Mosley, whose seat has been boiling since November. He texted a friend of his before Game 1 that they were going to take it, not steal it, and that’s exactly what they did. They then atoned for getting smacked around in the second half of Game 2 by delivering the two most important wins of the season.

 

The Pistons haven’t been able to rattle the Magic because the latter can match their brutishness. That should terrify Detroit that it was true even with Wagner out. His status is in question for the remainder of the series, but the other side has a glaring issue, too: There is not enough shot creation next to Cunningham, forcing him to do too much. Eight of his team’s 20 turnovers were his.

 

The other eighth seeds to upstage the first were the 1994 Denver Nuggets, 1999 New York Knicks, 2007 Golden State Warriors, 2011 Memphis Grizzlies, 2012 Philadelphia 76ers and 2023 Miami Heat. Notably, the Magic are doing it without the favorites facing a significant injury to their best player.