Detroit did not just survive Game 6. The Pistons took the game away from Cleveland.
Facing elimination on Friday night, the top-seeded Pistons beat the Cavaliers 115-94 at Rocket Arena, tying the Eastern Conference semifinal series 3-3 and sending it back to Detroit for a winner-take-all Game 7. Cade Cunningham finished with 21 points and eight assists, but the night’s sharper turn came inside, where Jalen Duren delivered the kind of playoff response Detroit needed: 15 points, 11 rebounds, and three blocks.
The official NBA game page listed the May 15 matchup as Game 6, while ESPN’s box score had the series even at 3-3 after the final horn.
Duren’s response changed the series’s tone.
Duren’s stats might not stand out in the regular season, but in this situation, they meant more than just numbers. Cleveland had a chance to finish the series at home. Detroit needed energy, extra effort, and more support for Cunningham.
Duren gave them all three.
He had nine points and six rebounds by halftime, according to Reuters’ Game 6 report, and kept Detroit connected during the stretch when Cleveland briefly threatened to drag the game back into its preferred grind. By the end, he had turned a pressure game into a reminder that the Pistons’ frontcourt can still punch first.
That is why “redemptive” fits here. Detroit did not need Duren to be the first option. It needed him to look like himself again when the season was on the line.
Detroit broke the game open after halftime.
The halftime score was only 54-51, close enough for Cleveland to believe it had absorbed Detroit’s best swing. Then the Pistons came out of the locker room and changed the math.
Detroit outscored Cleveland 61-43 in the second half, turning a tense elimination game into a road rout. The Pistons shot 52% from the field and 44% from three, while Cleveland finished at 39% overall, according to ESPN’s team stats.
The Cavaliers also gave Detroit too many extra chances. Cleveland committed 20 turnovers, and Reuters reported that the Pistons turned those mistakes into 28 points. That was the game’s cleanest divide: Detroit’s pressure created offense, while Cleveland’s mistakes kept cutting off its own comeback attempts.
The Pistons got the bench game they needed
Cunningham still set the tone, but Detroit did not have to ask him to win every possession. Paul Reed scored 17 points in 16 minutes. Daniss Jenkins added 15. Ausar Thompson had 10 points, nine rebounds, and four steals before fouling out.
That balance made this win feel different from a typical game carried by one star. Detroit looked deeper, quicker, and more confident as the game shifted.
For Cleveland, James Harden scored 23 points but also had eight turnovers. Donovan Mitchell had 18 points on 6-of-20 shooting, and Evan Mobley added 18. The Cavaliers had enough scoring to keep it close early, but not enough solid possessions to keep up with Detroit once the Pistons’ defense locked in.
Game 7 goes back to Detroit.
Game 7 is set for Sunday in Detroit, giving the Pistons home-court advantage after doing the hard part in Cleveland.
That does not make the next game simple. Cleveland already won in Detroit earlier in the series, and a Game 7 usually strips away comfort quickly. But the Pistons just answered their ugliest question of the round: could they respond after losing three straight and watching the Cavaliers move one win from the conference finals?
They answered with defense, bench scoring, and Duren owning space in the paint.
Now the series gets one final reset. Detroit has momentum. Cleveland still has enough star power to flip the night. The difference is that the Pistons no longer look like a team trying to hang on.
They look like a team that forced the Cavaliers to prove it one more time.