Pistons Can’t Match Mitchell’s Historic Half, Cavaliers’ Tenacity in Game 4 Loss

DETROIT – A best-of-seven series is now a best-of-three.

Bested in every way during a 112-103 runaway in Cleveland to even the Eastern Conference Semifinals in Game 4, the once certain, poised Pistons head back to Detroit in search of two wins and more answers.

“We were turning the ball over a lot. Couldn’t get stops,” Pistons forward Paul Reed said. “Donovan Mitchell was killing us. That was pretty much it.”

A 56-52 halftime lead evaporated as Mitchell sprang into superstar form.

Following a 1-for-8 shooting performance before the break, Mitchell led the Cavaliers on a 22-0 run out of the locker room, accounting for 20 of the team’s first 28 points in the third quarter.

Mitchell finished with 43 total points, his 39-point second half tying the record for most in any half during the NBA Playoffs set by Sleepy Floyd in 1987.

The 22-0 run opened an insurmountable lead. Held in check on the glass with just a 35-33 rebounding edge and turning the ball over five more times than Cleveland, the Pistons trailed by as many as 17 and returned the deficit to single digits with less than a minute to go.

“They played with more force and tenacity than we did to start the quarter,” head coach J.B. Bickerstaff said. “They came out very aggressive on both ends of the floor. We just didn’t match it.”

Cade Cunningham posted 19 points to go with six assists, outdueled by a combined 67 points courtesy of Mitchell and James Harden.

The Pistons were whistled for 27 fouls to 15 by the Cavs, resulting in nearly three times the free throw attempts being awarded to Cleveland.

“It’s unacceptable,” Bickerstaff said. “There’s no way one guy on their team shoots more free throws than our whole team. We’re not a ‘sell’ team. We’re not a jump shooting team.”

“You wonder the reason why,” the Pistons coach continued. “It’s interesting since Kenny [Atkinson] made his comments publicly about us, the whistle has changed in this series.”

Players were measured in their response to the disparity in the locker room.

“Can’t blame it on the refs. We shot ourselves in the foot,” Jalen Duren told Local 4’s Hobie Artigue. “There are areas we could have been better in, including myself. I will be better for my teammates. We’ve been backs against the wall before.”

Duren was limited to eight points and two rebounds.

Former Cavalier Caris LeVert brought his best out of necessity, netting a career playoff-high 24 points off the bench. Paired with 15 points from Paul Reed, the duo provided the most reliable scoring output down the stretch.

“I thought P-Reed earned the opportunity to be on the floor,” Bickerstaff explained. “Vert is a true competitor who understands the moment.”

Having come from 3-1 down in the first round, the Pistons are no strangers to playing through adversity. The battles of playoff basketball still provide tough learning experiences every night.

“It’s just about us figuring out what adjustment we need to make moving forward,” Reed said. “Against Orlando, we knew we had to come out and play with more urgency. Hopefully we win the next game with more urgency.”

“I think we learned from the Orlando series what it’s like to be down and the amount of urgency you have to play with, but now we’re on the other side of it,” Bickerstaff added. “Some of the hardest lessons you learn are the most frustrating ones, but you learn from them and you grow.”

As the old saying goes: a series doesn’t start until the home team loses on their court.

Even so, Pistons fans won’t stop thinking about two games that got away in Cleveland, and the team can’t stop working on how to right the ship for Game 5 at LCA on Wednesday.