James Harden hit three clutch shots in the final two minutes, Donovan Mitchell scored 35 points and the Cleveland Cavaliers beat Detroit 116-109 on Saturday to cut the Pistons’ lead to 2-1 in the Eastern Conference semifinal series. Harden bounced back from two mistake-marred performances to finish with 19 points and Jarrett Allen scored 18 for the Cavaliers, who will look to even the series when they host Game 4 on Monday night. Mitchell reached 2,000 career postseason points in his 73rd game. Detroit’s Cade Cunningham had his second career postseason triple-double with 27 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists, but also committed eight turnovers. Tobias Harris added 21 points.

James Harden endured plenty of criticism after the first two games of Cleveland’s Eastern Conference semifinal series against Detroit. With the Cavaliers in danger of falling into a 3-0 hole that no NBA team has ever overcome, the 17-year veteran showed he can still come up big in the clutch. Harden hit three shots in the final two minutes Saturday to lift the Cavaliers to a 116-109 victory over the Pistons in Game 3. Harden was 8 for 14 from the field after going 3 for 13 in Thursday’s 107-97 loss at Detroit. He went 3 of 7 on 3-pointers after going 3 for 20 in his previous four games.

The Los Angeles Lakers felt like they weren’t getting a fair whistle in their Game 2 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder. It might take a lot more than friendly officiating to make this series a fair fight. The Western Conference semifinals series moves to Los Angeles for Saturday’s Game 3 and the Lakers hope a change of scenery can help them get back into the matchup against the defending NBA champion Thunder. Over in the Eastern Conference, the Cleveland Cavaliers are in a similar situation. They’re in a 2-0 hole against the Detroit Pistons but now get to play in front of their home crowd.

James Harden isn’t worried that the Cleveland Cavaliers have dropped the first two games of their Eastern Conference semifinal series against the Detroit Pistons. The results suggest Harden and his teammates should be alarmed going into Game 3 on Saturday in Cleveland. Harden was acquired at the trade deadline to help Cleveland get beyond the second round for the first time since 2018. If the Cavs fall short of that goal, one reason will be Harden’s propensity for turnovers. He's had four playoff games with more turnovers than field goals. He's also 3 of 20 on 3-pointers over the past four games.

Cade Cunningham had 25 points and 10 assists, Tobias Harris scored 21 and the Detroit Pistons beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 107-97 on Thursday night to take a 2-0 lead in their second-round series. Game 3 is in Cleveland, where the Cavs were 4-0 in the first round against Toronto. The top-seeded Pistons have won five straight games since Orlando put them on the brink of elimination in the first round. Donovan Mitchell scored 31 points and Jarrett Allen had 22 points and seven rebounds, bouncing back from a poor performance in Game 1 for the fourth-seeded Cavs.

Tobias Harris had belief that few had when he chose to come back to play for the Detroit Pistons for a second time, signing with them two years ago when they had the NBA’s worst record for a second straight season and set a single-season record for consecutive losses. Detroit has had a remarkable turnaround and Harris has had a lot to do with it. Harris has scored 20-plus points in six straight games, including a 21-point performance that helped Detroit beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 107-97 on Thursday night to take a 2-0 lead in their second round series.

Cleveland Cavaliers reserve guard Sam Merrill is out of the lineup with a hamstring injury against the Detroit Pistons in Game 2 of their second-round series on Thursday night. Merrill was injured early in a Game 1 loss to the Pistons on Tuesday night. He had an MRI and was held out of practice on Wednesday. The 29-year-old Merrill averaged 12.8 points during the regular season and scored in double digits twice in the seven-game, first-round series against the Toronto Raptors.

After being overlooked for much of his career, Daniss Jenkins has played himself into a key role with the Detroit Pistons. The former two-way player got 29 minutes of playing time in Detroit's Game 1 win over Cleveland. The reserve guard had 12 points and three assists, bringing the ball up the court at times to give Cade Cunningham a break. He also had playoff career highs with seven rebounds and four steals. Jenkins was undrafted out of St. John's in 2024 and was playing on a two-way contract just a few months ago.

Cleveland Cavaliers reserve guard Sam Merrill had an MRI on his left hamstring after injuring it in a Game 1 loss to the Detroit Pistons. The Cavs held him out of practice Wednesday, a day before they will shoot to even the second-round series in Detroit. Merrill had one assist and one turnover in six-plus minutes of the opener against the Pistons on Tuesday night. The 29-year-old Merrill averaged 12.8 points during the regular season and scored in double digits twice in the seven-game, first-round series against the Toronto Raptors.

Cade Cunningham scored 23 points, Tobias Harris had 20 and the Detroit Pistons beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 111-101 on Tuesday night in Game 1 of their second-round series. Duncan Robinson added 19 points for the top-seeded Pistons, who ended an NBA-record tying 12-game postseason losing streak against an opponent, a drought that dated to the 2007 Eastern Conference finals. Game 2 is Thursday night in Detroit. Cleveland’s Donovan Mitchell scored 23 points, ending his NBA-record streak of scoring 30-plus points in nine straight series openers.