We have a Game 7. Detroit won in Cleveland, knocking off the Cavaliers on the road for the first time in these playoffs, to force a decisive Game 7 on Sunday.The Pistons are favored to win and advance to the Eastern Conference finals, but the New York Knicks are still a strong betting favorite to make it to the NBA Finals. The Knicks have been on a roll with a seven-game winning streak and even the prospect of taking on Detroit as the lesser seed in the conference finals won’t change the team favored to make the finals.Regardless, the two Western Conference finalists, the Oklahoma City Thunder and the San Antonio Spurs, are the clear favorites to win the NBA title no matter which teams comes out of the Eastern Conference.Eastern ConferenceNo. 1 Detroit Pistons vs. No. 4 Cleveland CavaliersSeries tied 3-3Game 7: 8 p.m. ET, SundaySeries odds: Pistons -180, Cavaliers +150
Just after Cleveland finally won its first road playoff game, the Cavaliers gave it away with their first home playoff loss. Detroit not only went into Cleveland and won Game 6, the Pistons did it emphatically.Cleveland made a couple runs, but wasn’t really in the contest on Friday night. The punishment is a Game 7 on the road. Detroit is favored by 4.5 points at home.The Pistons won 115-94 in Cleveland, a scoreline so drastic that it puts into question the entire Cavaliers roster build. Cleveland had a chance for its first conference final without LeBron James since 1992, but that will have to wait for at least one more game.Donovan Mitchell was just 6-for-20 from the field and had an ugly minus-25 plus-minus in Game 6. James Harden led Cleveland with 23 points, but had eight turnovers.Cade Cunningham had a good game (21 points, eight assists, but also seven turnovers), but not a great game. The key for Detroit was defense and strong two-way games from their bigs. Jalen Duren and Paul Reed combined for 32 points and 17 rebounds, which by comparison isn’t the best reflection on Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen (who combined for 31 points and 14 rebounds, but aren’t supposed to get outplayed by Detroit’s bigs).
