The Detroit Pistons defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers 107-97 to take a 2-0 lead in their second-round series on Thursday night.
Cade Cunningham dropped 25 points and 10 assists, while Tobias Harris had 21 for the Pistons, who have won five straight games since Orlando put them on the brink of elimination in the first round.
Duncan Robinson added 17 points, making 5 of 9 3-pointers, and Daniss Jenkins came off the bench to score 14 points, his third straight game in double figures.
On the other hand, Donovan Mitchell led the Cavaliers with 31 points, and Jarrett Allen had 22 and seven rebounds, bouncing back from a poor performance in Game 1 for the fourth-seeded Cavs.
James Harden was limited to 10 points and missed 10 of 13 shots with four turnovers, including one with 33 seconds left when the Cavs trailed by just six.
The Cavaliers made the first shot and did not lead again until Evan Mobley’s dunk put the visitors ahead 81-79 early in the fourth quarter.
Detroit led by 11 points in the first and 14 in the second, but they did not pull away until the final minutes.
Cleveland scored the first six points in the fourth and responded with plays at both ends of the court.
However, Robinson sank a tiebreaking triple with 9:40 left, and Cunningham added another three to put them up by nine points with 2:12 to go.
Meanwhile, Cavs reserve guard Sam Merrill missed Game 2 with a hamstring injury after he was hurt in the series opener.
Game 3 is Saturday in Cleveland, where the Cavs were 4-0 in the first round against Toronto.
