Playoff Live Thread: Cavs @ Pistons (Game 5)
2026-05-13Can the Cavs win one on the road? After solid wins in Cleveland in which Spida was transcendent and James Harden looked like James Harden again, the wine and gold will try to repeat the blueprint of the previous two wins: limit turnovers, lock down on Cade and Tobias Harris, make everyone else beat you, and let the Cavs big three eat (Harden, Mitchell, and Mobley).
For the Pistons, it’s been a lot of J.B. bitching about free throw disparity since Monday, to which I say, “maybe you should stop fouling people?” This isn’t a must-win for Cleveland, so I have my doubts as to their urgency. I hope they have figured out that they can’t wait till the last possible minute to play with urgency but I have my doubts. If the Cavs can match the energy and execution, they should get this, especially if Duren and Amen Thompson look like warmed over garbage again. Young players do love home cooking, though..
Can Dean Wade score any points to go with his exceptional defense? Will Kenny trust Jaylon Tyson or allow Schröder to hemorrhage points? Will Dennis’s three ball travel? Will the refs allow the Pistons to get away with murder on defense? Can Donovan be more than just a friendly neighborhood Spida? We’ll know the answer to all these questions in a few hours. Go Cavs.
Podcap up btw
I hesitate to out this out there, yet, but for you, what outcomes this season would lead you to grade the Harden/DG trade as a success/failure?
I’d assume a 2nd rounf exit would mean a failing grade for most if not all? Myself included.
A title is an obvious win. Would making the Finals be a win? A push? ECF? Does it depend? On what?
For me, I’d have to say 1 more win and it is at least a push.
I mostly agree with this, but we probably have to wait until next year to determine for sure. Certainly we can’t say it’s a win with a loss in the 2nd round.
Had this squad been together for the whole season, I’d say ECF at a minimum. They haven’t though – Harden and Mitchell have both been at pains to say they are still learning about each other, as is the team. I’d give them more time together, even if they fail against DET. On the flip side though, they are more talented / experienced than DET. If they are healthy I think they go through. ECF is an absolute win, would be hubristic to expect more, given the talent on the opposing teams. I don’t expect this squad to challenge for… Read more »
I’m more interested in Garland’s next few seasons. If he fully recovers and kicks ass, I’ll have major regrets unless Cavs have a major finals run. If DG continues to be injury prone, I’m not sweating it too much
Finals appearance: win
Competitive in ECF: push
Gentleman’s exit from ECF: fail
For me, its already a success. I love Garland, but Harden is a better piece for the team. We need to maximize Mitchell, Allen, Mobley, and we dont maximize this year with Garland. I dont think Garland performs at the level Harden has already performed at this playoffs. Maybe we lose to Toronto with Garland. I dont think Garland performs at Hardens level this year in Game 5 at Detroit. Finally, I dont know if old Garland returns. Maybe but I dont know. Again, I love Garland and I love watching him cook more than most others but I dont… Read more »
Garland’s my favorite Cav to watch.
But tripling up on second round wins is a win for the near term and I expect us to be awesome next year with a full training camp.
You guys are grading way too soon. If chip arrives next season, winning!!!
I was a DG fan, but he usually failed to produce. without the trade, Toronto would be playing the Pistons right now
Detroit fans are stillllll complaining about the calls. Yeesh.
Fans are gonna fan. I will bitch about a bad call in the moment but I’ve always had the attitude that bad calls are bound to bite you at some point, the team needs to be a good enough to not let that be the determining factor.
Absolutely. Detroit allowed some pretty crucial runs to occur regardless of fouls in the last few of the 4th. That’s not going to get it done in the playoffs.
For us in the playoffs:
Box +/-, TrSh%, Shooting Splits (FG/3PT/FT)
1. Mobley +6.1, 63.3%, 55.3/36.6/66.7
2. Allen +3.7, 64.8%, 64.4/n/a/58.3
3. Harden +2.9, 59.5%, 42.4/35.3/85.9
4. Strus +2.6, 64.0%, 46.2/39.1/88.2
5. Mitchell +1.0, 55.9%, 45.5/30.8/85.7
—————–
6. Merrill -0.6, 59.8%, 40.7/36.4/85.7
7. Wade -0.9, 55.9%, 45.1/34.3/0.0
8. Ellis -1.4, 39.3%, 27.3/30.0/0.0
9. Tyson -1.6, 48.1%, 38.2/31.0/58.3
10. Schröder -2.9, 55.6%, 42.2/34.6/86.4
LTM confirms no foul on Allen
Link:
https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/48772434/nba-officials-no-call-cavs-pistons-game-5-was-correct
I still say we got lucky a foul wasn’t called there. We could be easily be 3-2 down with a LTM saying it should have been OT.
did the Cavs still have a challange left?
at least two of the mini fouls on DM on that play were less “incidental” than anything by JA. the L2M report gets it right: two guys going for a loose ball, who you going to call a foul on?
yes if bad things without factual basis happen instead of the actual
thing it’s problematic
this is real “if my aunt had two wheels she’d be a bicycle” reasoning
Interesting that, according to the report, there were no errors in the last two minutes and overtime, and the Cavs dominated those minutes. Kind of makes you wonder what a whole game with no errors would look like.
lol that was out the window with the first missed OOB call on Harden
Both teams have scored 543 points through five games.
Two-point shots:
Three-point shots:
Free-throws:
Turnovers:
Offensive Rebounds:
Jesus Detroit has been shooting the cover off the ball.
Hard to believe we’re only two turnovers over the Pistons. Feels like it should be a lot more.
Think Cavs got out to a lead early in the series but DET reeled them in once Cavs woke up.
Sorry to keep being the Reddit reporter but just saw this on there:
The Athletic reports the Cavaliers are dealing with illnesses going through the locker room as they go up 3-2. “Sam Merrill was violently ill on the off day between games 4 and 5, as a stomach bug (different from Atkinson’s upper respiratory bug) is also coursing through the team.”
Hope this doesn’t keep snowballing…
Well, at least it could explain why Merrill’s been missing wide open 3s, and maybe Donovan’s slow starts the last two games as well.
The last six playoff games (going back to Game 7 against Orlando) make the “Core 4” label more valid. All of them have had spectular individual runs in clutch time: Donovan in OT yesterday; Mobley to almost single-handed erase the 9-pt deficit in the last two minutes; Harden in the last two minutes of Game 3;’and Allen going beast-mode the entire 3rd quarter of Game 7 against Orlando when it was clear in that moment that a loss was going to break the franchise. And they’ve all shown an ability to carry a big chunk of the load for most… Read more »
Great post. But Toronto, not Orlando.
And as infuriating as Schröder can be, he had a huge moment vs Toronto in Game 5 I think when that appeared to be slipping away and two pretty good games vs Detroit.
Strus & Schröder are streaky offensively, but give you intensity. Wade gives you defense. Merrill shooting gravity & movement.
The top 8 is solid. Only Wade is a FA.
2026/27 Contracts, Core guys:
1. Mitchell $50.1 mil
2. Mobley $50.1 mil
3. Allen $28.0 mil
4. Strus $16.7
5. Schröder $14.8
6. Merrill $9.2
7. Tyson $3.7
—————-
$172.6 mil
Harden has a $42.3 mil player option. I’d think we will do an extension that hopefully brings that number down.
2nd apron is projected at $222 mil. 1st at $209.
FAs: Wade, Ellis, Bryant, LNJ
Tomlin signed for $2.4 mil.
Proctor for $2.2.
CPJ has a team option for $2.4 mil.
Getting under the tax is not gonna happen unless we boow it up. So the full mid-level exception is off the table. The taxpayer MLE of $5.8 mil is certainly a possibility. Though using it can hard cap you at the 2nd apron. $222.
I am not a contract guru, but say with the extension we get Harden’s cap hit down to, say, $35 mil. That puts us at $207.6 counting just our top 8.
Wade’s last deal was 3/$18 mil. Something similar, would put us at $213.6. For 9 guys.
Using the full taxpayer MLE would put us at $219.4 with 10 guys and hard capped at the 2nd apron. If you let Wade walk, we have $8.6 worth of space and 6 open spots.
Now, if we don’t care about using the full taxpayer MLE. Or we don’t care about being over the 2nd apron again, we can keep the core group together.
Lebron will have to play for $5.8 or less. And the $5.8 will likely cost us Wade or Strus/Schröder unless that Harden extension REALLY helps us or other moves are made.
$213.6 for 9.
Add in Tomlin & Proctor gives you 11 for $218.2. We have the 29th pick, that plus Bryant (or similar big) at $2.4 puts us rifht at $222 with 13 guys.
We are out of 2nds in the near future, so paying someone to take Schröder’s contract may be tough.
Ha, good catch re Toronto! Schroder proved to be a savvy deadline pickup, and if we advance, there’s more opportunity for Keon to make an impact against NY.
Strus feels like the worthy successor to JR Smith in a lot of ways.
needs more tats!
I think the Cleveland home crowd will bring the same Game 6 energy as in 2007 (the Boobie Gibson game) and 2016 (the blowout that teed up arguably the greatest game 7 in NBA history).
There is a picture on threads of Mobley with a six-inch gash running down the left side of his face courtesy of a Piston who probably wasn’t called for that contact either – and if they were, they likely whined about it. Scoreboard.
I think it should be a while before we can legit complain about a whistle.
I get letting that JA foul go. That would be a horrific way to end a PO game in a play that likely had zero impact on the game. But he DID teip him.
Eh, honestly I think you’re being too devil’s advocatey. I think the calls/no-calls were going both ways plenty last night. NBA-reddit has a whole thread about how insane it would have been to call that on Allen (and how Thompson probably should have been called 2 separate times leading up to the trip).
https://www.reddit.com/r/nba/comments/1tcoq6z/slow_motion_replay_of_the_contact_between/
watch this. it is clear that there was no foul at all, let alone one that would be called at any level.
You could have easily called a foul on the Thompson strip: reaching from behind, across the arm on Mitchell’s shot attempt. Play on.
Nah, incidental. Don’t fall for the propaganda
Game also started with two missed OOB calls that were turnovers. Refs were generally fair and there was enough to complain about on both sides
I watched the play. Not a propaganda issue.
That easily could have been called. Saying other stuff could been called also does not change that.
You guys are hopeless homers.
In the moment I thought we got really lucky it wasn’t called (commented in the game thread even), but in hindsight I think no freaking way, not even close.
same, because the TV guys said so, but they were wrong.
Ausar pushed Allen’s arm and their feet get tangled. Incidental
Ausar also puts his foot under Allen’s fwiw
maybe you better watch it again. the L2M report gets it exactly right.
This is madness. They are never going to call a loose ball foul far from the basket with time expiring. They don’t call fouls on guys shooting with time running out, let alone chasing a ball out of bounds.
This is the explanation that makes the most sense.
But again, that is different than saying there was not a foul.
I mean it was just one game prior, wasn’t it, that Harden had Harris land right in his space and knock Harden down after Harden’s clutch time 3-pointer, and the refs apparently said, “nothing to see here.” If that’s a no call, why is this different? Last play contact is not routinely called.
LTM confirms no foul
Jason: watch the replay. there is absolutely no foul
Shooting: FG/3PT/FT
Cavs: 45/40/82; 36/80, 14/35, 31/38
Det: 44/33/90; 42/95, 11/33, 18/20
Poss: FGA + FTA/2: Cavs 99, Det 105
Turnovers: Cavs 16, Det 10
Reb T/O/D:
Cavs: 44/12/31
Detroit: 40/15/25
We were +18 FTA, +13 FTs, and +9 from 3.
They were +6 poss, +3 OReb, +6 TOs, +15 FGA
+/-.
Allen +14, Harden +11, Strus +9, Schröder +9, Wade +2, Mitchell -4, Mobley -7, Merrill -7, Tyson -7.
Hope Spida’s ankle is good to go.
Take care of the ball. Don’t get too 3 happy. Keep the bigs involved. Hopefully Merrill & Tyson can play a bit better.
gotta find a way to get Tyson going. I missed the first half, so I didn’t see him involved in a dust-up. what happened?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NnfRXyouvD8
He got his shot blocked and then tied up for a jump ball trying to recover it, and then shoved Beef Stew out of frustration. Was pretty dumb but like his fire.
right. Tyson and Strus have a bit of the old JR Smith toughness — remember JR KO’ing a guy with an “accidental” backhand?
GOT TO WIN FRIDAY NIGHT——FANS HAVE TO BE LOUD——-DO NOT WANT A GAME 7 IN DETROIT———PLlEASE CURTAIL THE TO’s THAT IS THE PISTONS ONLY CHANCE OF WINNING—— GO CAVS ENERGY FOR ALL 4 QTRS—👍🏀💪
Last game in the 216 was next-level noisy from what I heard. Feel like the city has got this. On the matter of energy – caught video of Kenny addressing players after the game, he emphasised REST above everything before the next game.
yeah — wish we had used a couple more guys heavily in the regular season in hopes that they would be playable now.
Tyson and Ellis played a ton in the RS and aren’t super playable (although I do expect they’ll play first half minutes tomorrow)
It’s a fine balance, for sure. Feel like the Cavs blooded rotation is GTG though (injury aside).
NO PROBLEM NATE —- YOU GUYS ARE GREAT’ 👍👍
Ditto!
Hope for a win in Game 6, obviously.
Take better care of the ball. Love to see Merrill have a hot shooting game. And would live to see Tyson get another chance and play better. Wade scoring would be nice.
We are only 8 deep atm. Ellis could be useful vs Brunson, if we get there.
Ellis will be as fresh as Brunson, at least.
Looks like we’re back on line. Sorry about that, guys. We broke the site! I had to record a podcast or fix the site and I chose the former. Pod up tmrw. Go Cavs.
Thanks for all of your efforts running CtB.
hell yeah!
You chose correctly!
Allen 16/10 with 6 offensive boards a steal & 2 blocks. +14 was highest on the team.
Mobes was fantastic in the clutch. 19-8-8 with 3 blocks a steal and his defensive influence is yoeman’s work.
JB should have been forced to deliver the junkyard dog chain to Strus after the game.
Love it!
Now that’s brutal…well done.
My take pre-series was that both Mobley and Allen are better than Duren.
Totally vindicated
Mitchell & Harden:
4-18 on 3s. 11-21 2s. 12 reb, 9 ast, 8 TOs.
But they got tonthe line 20 times, making 17.
10 1st half TOs. Only 6 in the 2nd..
Strus and Mobley were studly.
Even though Mobley hasn’t met the stupidly high expectations the FO put on him, he’s been a fabulous front court initiator and playmaker and isn’t scared of the moment. A joy to watch.
They might switch Ausar on him to jam up the short roll stuff next game.
Okay. Lots of huge plays. But to me, watching Evan hit that last 3…
yeah, his late 3’s put us over the top
Whew! We hung on. It was ugly at times. And, yes we were lucky that was not a foul on Allen late, but winning a game when we were down 9 with 3 minutes left feels like we stole one.
Harden had 30 and some big defensive plays, but also turned it over 6 times and shot poorly. Mobley 19-8-8 with 3 blocks & 4 TOs. Huge 3 and FTs late. Strus gets my MOTM with 21 on 6-8 3s, 8 boards, and that huge steal and dime in OT. Spida stuttered but came thru in OT. JA solid.
Hope this gets us over the hump mentally. Or at least a step forward for us.
Not pretty but gritty.
Duren benched.
TOs still an issue. Won the glass,,close on O glass. Shot better, big edge at the FT line again.
Kenny post-game: We just made plays Progress! Mental performance, toughness builds through games like this. Regulation didn’t end great, but persistence from Donovan. James helps a lot – even keel, even if you’re down a lot. I’ve been in this position before – game 6, expected to win and lost. Game 7 on the road is then harder. Game winning play – Max Strus’s steal. Crowd gasped and went quiet. Harden had benefited from having the ball in his hands less, get him further up the floor first. He doesn’t have to bring the ball up every time. He’s a… Read more »
If Mobley was to take a leap and the team would shed the soft label, this is exactly what it would look like.
Ugly as sin but winning against brutal physicality over two series….
Thank god for Caris Re-Vert
A gift.
My bad, a 2. Big difference there. Det still have to foul. Though not right away. I hope KA tells them that.
Umlaut added for ball handling
Man, I feel like this is gonna get away.
Cade triple.
Changed to a 2. Still nuts
Deuce. I don’t understand why Harden is in for these possessions
what ?
Don’t like the clock here. DET likely to have last possession in a 1 possession game. At least Cavs in front….
Dang could have really iced it with a score there. Or real close.
Up 4. 29 seconds.
Can we finally close the deal on the road?
This is crazy.
Harden screwed up the two on one. GD it.
Miscommunication on that one at the rim. Should have been a guarantee. Tired legs.
and brains…
So many opportunities to put the ball in the hole. My god.
What the hell was Harden doing
I’m dying here
Thank you Caris.
Jfc. Getting silly.
God. We are so sloppy!!
Harden with a block, then a TO.
God that sucks Mobley missing that bunny leading to an easy bucket the other way. Ughh.
BIG couple of possessions there for Mitchell. Wow. Strus has been great today.
Strus has been huge.