DETROIT — The Pistons blew past the Cavaliers 115-94 in Game 6 on Friday, forcing the series back to Detroit for a decisive Game 7 on Sunday. What had been a tight playoff game turned into a runaway in the fourth quarter, when Detroit kept making plays and Cleveland ran out of answers.
Paul Reed knocked down a late 3-pointer, Jalen Duren returned for the first time since the third quarter, and Cade Cunningham blocked Donovan Mitchell at the rim in a stretch that broke the game open. The Pistons led by 14 points with one quarter remaining, then stretched it further when Tobias Harris stole the ball after Wade slipped and finished with a dunk with 6:07 left in the fourth.
That closing run mattered because it came after Cleveland had already tried to slow the momentum. The Cavaliers called timeout with 3:25 left in the fourth quarter when Detroit led by 16 points, and Kenny Atkinson later pulled the starters after a timeout. Bickerstaff also sat the starters, underscoring how thoroughly the game had slipped away by the end.
The third quarter set up the finish. Detroit came out hot, Cunningham calmly drilled a triple, and with 5:24 left in the period the Pistons called timeout after Allen blocked Reed and LeVert caught a block before hooking it in. Thompson later fouled out while trying to move through a screen by Allen, another sign of how the Cavaliers kept losing ground as the possession battles turned against them.
The result gives Detroit a chance to finish the series at home, and it changes the feel of the matchup going into Sunday. The Pistons were sharper, more physical and far more composed in Game 6, and the final score reflected it. Now the pressure shifts to Game 7, where everything the teams built through six games comes down to one night in Detroit.
