The Cleveland Cavaliers are finally on the board away from home this postseason, and they did it in dramatic fashion.
After trailing by nine points with less than three minutes remaining in regulation, the Cavaliers stormed back to defeat the Detroit Pistons 117-113 in overtime on Wednesday night, taking a three-two lead in the Eastern Conference semifinals.
Detroit had a 96.8 percent chance to win when it led 103-94 late in the fourth quarter, according to ESPN Analytics.
Cleveland responded with a furious 9-0 run to force overtime before closing the game on a 23-10 stretch overall.
“That stretch right there says a lot about our progress,” Cavaliers coach Kenny Atkinson said. “[Our] mental toughness progress … these guys, they never get down.”
Donovan Mitchell once again led Cleveland late, scoring seven of his 21 points in overtime after the Cavaliers clawed their way back into the game.
“Just the mental fortitude,” Mitchell said. “Being able to understand, like I always talk about, you have something to pull from. You have a situation in Games 1 and 2 where you find — we’ve been here before.”
Mitchell also kept the team grounded after the win despite Cleveland moving within one victory of the Eastern Conference Finals.
“The biggest thing is just not get too high, get too low,” Mitchell said. “At the end of the day, it’s 3-2. The series is not over by any means. It was great to get one on the road. Yay, whoop-de-do. But we got to protect home court.”
While Mitchell delivered in overtime, it was Max Strus who gave Cleveland life throughout the second half. Strus finished with 20 points, eight rebounds and six made threes while also helping slow down Pistons star Cade Cunningham late in the game.
“Resiliency, grit, take everything we had,” Strus said. “It wasn’t our best night offensively, but I think that’s what speaks volumes to getting this win was we found a way.”
Meanwhile, James Harden delivered his best playoff scoring performance since arriving in Cleveland, finishing with 30 points, 8 rebounds, 6 assists and 3 blocks.
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