Pistons Face Elimination in Game 6 as Cunningham’s 30-Point Pace Must Break Cavs’ Traps
Updated
Updated · Yahoo Sports · May 15
Pistons Face Elimination in Game 6 as Cunningham’s 30-Point Pace Must Break Cavs’ Traps
10 articles · Updated · Yahoo Sports · May 15
Detroit enters Friday’s Game 6 down 3-2 after Cleveland’s Game 5 comeback, with its season hinging on whether Cade Cunningham and Jalen Duren can reestablish the pick-and-roll that powered the Pistons all year.
Cunningham is averaging 30 points per game this postseason—the highest playoff rate in Pistons franchise history—but Cleveland has disrupted him with traps, random doubles and weakside help that force the ball out of his hands.
Duren has struggled to punish those coverages, as the Cavaliers mix looks with Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley to take away the roll and muddy the short-roll reads Detroit relied on in the regular season.
Detroit’s other path is on defense: its swarming rotations have created turnovers, but Cleveland has increasingly stretched the floor with shooters and targeted weakside help to open driving lanes and close out the series.
With their All-Star center faltering, can the top-seeded Pistons find a new strategy to survive elimination in Game 6?
Is James Harden the key to Cleveland's newfound toughness, or will his past playoff failures haunt their closeout game?