A decisive seventh game awaits basketball fans this Sunday, bringing excitement for supporters of both the Cleveland Cavaliers and Detroit Pistons.
However, only one fanbase will celebrate when the night concludes.
For the second straight playoff round, the Cavaliers and Pistons find themselves in a do-or-die matchup. Detroit will welcome Cleveland on Sunday evening for Game 7 of their Eastern Conference semifinal matchup, with the victor earning a spot against New York in the East finals beginning Tuesday.
Detroit boasts a 6-1 record in Game 7 contests since 1990, while Cleveland maintains a perfect 5-0 mark in such games since 2016 — including two victories on opposing courts.
“I’ve seen this movie before,” Cavaliers coach Kenny Atkinson said. “It’s tough. It’s hard. And it should be hard. The good thing is we’ve put ourselves in a position to have a Game 7. But this is what it’s about. Playoffs are hard. We’ve got to close it out in Game 7.”
Cleveland’s first-round seven-game victory this season came against Toronto, while Detroit needed the full series to defeat Orlando. Both the Cavaliers and Pistons enjoyed home-court advantage for those decisive contests, but Cleveland won’t have that benefit this time.
The Cavs captured Game 5 in Detroit to seize control of the series momentarily, then suffered a 115-94 defeat while attempting to clinch at home on Friday. Now they must return to Detroit.
“It’s one game on the road. There’s no other way to put it,” Cavaliers guard James Harden said. “You’ve got to be detailed, you’ve got to get off for a really good start, and you’ve got to maintain and sustain it for an entire game, however long that takes. It really is just one game. Not saying you’ve got to be perfect, but we’ve got to do the details that we’ve been preaching.”
The Pistons now stand 4-0 this season when facing elimination following Friday’s triumph. They managed just four elimination game victories combined over the previous 20 seasons, though many of those years passed without Detroit reaching the playoffs at all.
This squad represents a transformation. A franchise that won only 14 games two seasons ago maintained the East’s top seed for nearly the entire current season, developing confidence from that achievement.
“We stay in the moment,” Pistons guard Cade Cunningham said. “We don’t get ahead of ourselves. But most importantly, we stick together. When things get ugly or whatever, we come together, we talk, we get back in the moment and then we move forward from there.”
Pistons coach J.B. Bickerstaff added: “They just don’t quit. The resolve that they have, the belief that they have in one another, they just have the ability to bounce back mentally where they don’t hang onto things. Quarters don’t bother them. Halves don’t bother them. They just move on to the next play, stay moment to moment and try to win what’s in front of them.”
Sunday’s victor will become the sixth franchise in the current playoff structure (the NBA adopted best-of-seven first-round series in 2003) to reach the conference finals after winning Game 7s in both the opening and second rounds.
The previous teams:
— Dallas, 2003
The Mavs finished 60-22 in the 2002-03 campaign and earned the Western Conference’s No. 3 seed. They defeated Portland 4-3 in the first round, Sacramento 4-3 in the second round, but lost in six games to San Antonio in the West finals.
— Phoenix, 2006
The Suns compiled a 54-28 record in 2005-06 and secured the West’s No. 2 seed. They eliminated the Lakers 4-3 in the opening round, the Clippers 4-3 in round two, but fell in six games to Dallas in the West finals.
— Boston, 2008
The Celtics captured the NBA championship in 2007-08 through an extremely challenging path. Boston posted a 66-16 record to claim the Eastern Conference’s top seed, then required seven games to eliminate both Atlanta in the first round and Cleveland in the second round. The Celtics defeated Detroit in six games to win the East finals, then beat the Lakers in six games in the NBA Finals.
— Toronto, 2016
The Raptors finished 56-26 in 2015-16 and claimed the East’s No. 2 seed. They needed seven games to overcome Indiana in the first round and Miami in the second round, then fell in six games to Cleveland in the East finals.
— Denver, 2020
During the bubble season, the Nuggets completed a 46-27 campaign to secure the West’s No. 3 seed. They defeated Utah 4-3 in the first round, the Clippers 4-3 in the second round — overcoming 3-1 deficits in both series — then lost to the Lakers 4-1 in the West finals.
