Game 7 pros Cavaliers, Pistons face elimination

AP:

Game 7. That's a phrase that surely brings back a lot of good memories for fans of the Cleveland Cavaliers and Detroit Pistons.

Of course, only one of those groups will be happy tonight.

For the second consecutive round, the Cavaliers and Pistons are heading to a winner-take-all contest. Detroit play host to Cleveland on Sunday night in Game 7 of their Eastern Conference semi-final series, with the winners set to face New York in the East finals starting Tuesday.

Detroit are 6-1 in Game 7s since 1990, while Cleveland are 5-0 in Game 7s since 2016 — with two of those wins coming in road games.

"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 seven-game win in Round 1 this season was over Toronto; Detroit's seven-game win in Round 1 this season was over Orlando. The Cavaliers and Pistons both got to be at home for those games. Cleveland don't have that luxury this time around.

The Cavs won Game 5 in Detroit to take command — albeit briefly — of the series, then lost 115-94 with a chance to close out the series at home on Friday. So, back to Detroit they go.

"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 are now 4-0 this season when facing elimination after Friday's victory. They won four elimination games — total — in the last 20 seasons combined, though in fairness most of those years came and went without Detroit even making the playoffs.

But this team is different. A 14-win laughingstock of a club two seasons ago held the number-one seed in the East for almost this entire season, and a sense of poise seems to have grown from that success.

"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."

Added Pistons coach J.B. Bickerstaff: "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."