James Harden on Wednesday night scored a playoff-best 30 points and Donovan Mitchell had 21, helping the Cleveland Cavaliers come back from a nine-point deficit late in regulation and beat the Detroit Pistons 117-113 in overtime to take a 3-2 lead in their NBA Eastern Conference semi-final series.
The Pistons led by 15 points in the first half and 103-94 with two-plus minutes left. The Cavs rallied and pulled into a 103-103 tie on Evan Mobley’s free throws with 45.2 seconds left.
“That stretch right there says a lot about our progress — mental performance progress and mental toughness progress,” Cavs coach Kenny Atkinson said.
Photo: AP
Just before the buzzer, Cleveland’s Jarrett Allen and Detroit’s Ausar Thompson got tangled up and no call was made.
“He fouled Ausar — clearly,” Pistons coach J.B. Bickerstaff said. “He tripped him when he was going for a loose ball.”
Cleveland went on a 13-0 run and held Detroit scoreless for five minutes from late in fourth quarter to midway through overtime. The Cavs went ahead by seven with just under three minutes remaining in OT on Mitchell’s three-pointer.
Cade Cunningham, who had 39 points and nine assists, made a jumper to pull the Pistons within two points with 25 seconds left.
Harden made one free throw on the ensuing possession and rebounded his missed second attempt. He made another free throw to help seal the win.
“It wasn’t our best night offensively, but I think that’s what speaks volumes to getting this win was we found a way” Max Strus said.
Game 6 is tonight in Cleveland, where the fourth-seeded Cavs would get the first of two chances to advance to face the New York Knicks in the East finals.
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