DETROIT — When Donovan Mitchell exited the court Thursday night, he was greeted, like always, by members of the Cleveland Cavaliers’ front office. The men in suits stood outside the visitors’ locker room, handing out conciliatory fist pumps after Game 2 in which the Cavs lost, and once again, looked lost. Mitchell nodded as he walked through the parade of pumps, even showing the faintest hint of an expression that signaled, We still got this. The teammates who followed behind him, however, didn’t look as sure.
Evan Mobley managed a spacey stare. Dennis Schröder remained speechless. James Harden, still covered in sweat, connected with each fist and miraculously didn’t commit another turnover in the process.
This is the support surrounding Mitchell in the Eastern Conference semifinals. Now, contrast that with the scene that enclosed Cade Cunningham after the Detroit Pistons won 107-97 in front of a sellout crowd in Little Caesars Arena: Tobias Harris, the most reliable No. 2 scorer in this series, bounded off the court in a sprint. Daniss Jenkins, the better of the backup guards in this series, flashed three fingers toward the team’s social media creator to celebrate the team’s ‘W.’ And Duncan Robinson, by far and away the best 3-point shooter in this series, slapped on headphones for the customary post-victory radio interview.
It’s simple. One superstar in this series has help. The other does not. Cunningham’s Pistons have taken a 2-0 lead because his teammates keep showing up and delivering in the clutch. Mitchell, who scored a game-high 31 points on Thursday night, has teammates who keep buckling in the big moments and have needed sympathy from the suits in the aftermath.
“That’s what we’ve hung our hat on all year. Next-man-up mentality,” said Cunningham, who led his mates with 25 points. “Top to bottom, we’ve got athletes. We got guys that can make plays. And I mean, now you’re about to see it more.”
As the one who hears the “M-V-P” serenade, Cunningham will get credit for taking over in the fourth quarter. That’s accurate but doesn’t tell the full story. When Cleveland tied the score at 81 with about 10 minutes remaining, Detroit muted that rally behind a triple from Robinson and a floater from Harris. By the time Cunningham joined the scoring in the fourth quarter, right at the 5:47 mark, the Pistons had already retaken the lead.
Cunningham finished with a flurry, drawing fouls and hitting 3s and finishing with 12 points in the frame. However, he had help.
At least so far in the matchup of backup point guards, Jenkins, a second-year pro, has outplayed the veteran Schröder. A blur of a baller, Jenkins can race past any Cavalier they put in front of him. And he can shoot, too. Jenkins drilled a 30-footer to beat the buzzer in the third quarter. It was the third time this series that the Pistons snatched momentum at the end of a quarter with a deep 3.
Also, while Harden, the former MVP and career 36.4 percent 3-point shooter, struggled, Robinson flourished. On Thursday night, Harden made only three shots and committed four turnovers, replicating an ugly stat sheet from Game 1, but Robinson’s quick trigger resulted in five triples. He’s up to 10 made 3s in the series, while Mitchell, Cleveland’s solo star in need of a hand, leads his team with six.
Remember when Cunningham looked like the loneliest frontman in the Motor City? The first-round series against the Orlando Magic revealed Detroit’s weaknesses. This is a physically imposing roster that pours its heart into playing defense, yes, for sure, but several of these athletes can’t shoot. In the Game 1 loss, Cunningham scored 39 points while the rest of the team connected on only 18 of 50 attempts from the floor. Then, as Detroit tumbled into a 3-1 deficit, Cunningham led all scorers with 25 points through a highly inefficient night (7-for-23), while the Pistons couldn’t even reach 90 points as a team.
Cunningham was performing as the Gladys, surrounded not by the East’s No. 1 seed, but the Detroit Pips. However, within a week, and with a change in opponent, the Pistons have controlled the semifinal round because they are playing like the deepest team in the East.
“There are guys who didn’t get to play (who have) helped us win games. Probably everybody on our roster has helped us win a game at some point in this season,” Cunningham said. “I don’t think there’s a lot of teams that you can say that about.”
The truth is, the others on this 15-man roster were never just Cade’s backup singers. A team doesn’t climb to the upper echelon of the Eastern Conference by existing as a one-man show (well, not unless you’re LeBron James dragging Boobie Gibson, Damon Jones, Drew Gooden and Zydrunas Ilgauskas to the 2007 NBA Finals).
This season, when Cunningham missed 11 games because of a collapsed lung, Jenkins stepped into the starting lineup. Detroit won eight of those games. Earlier in the year, when Detroit earned its 13th in a row, four other Pistons besides Cunningham scored in double figures, including Caris LeVert, who added 19 from off the bench. And after surviving his early shooting funk in the first round, Harris has scored at least 20 points in seven straight games.
“All year we’ve had a great team, regardless of if people see it or not,” said LeVert, who scored eight points in his reserve role Thursday night. “We know that the strength of this team is our depth. I think we’ve shown that all year. I think in the first round, the way that (Orlando) was playing us, Cade had a lot of opportunities to go himself. I think in this round, (Cleveland) is kind of making him pass and making him get off the ball. So you’re seeing other guys stepping up.”
So much for being a one-man machine. Just a singular star having to score, create and carry the load every night. That hasn’t happened through the opening two games. At least not for Detroit.
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