For both the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Detroit Pistons, the journey to the second round was more choppy than either might have expected, but each team got there in the end, surviving seven-game dogfights to set up a long-anticipated matchup in the conference semifinals. Along the way, James Harden and Donovan Mitchell both exorcised some Game 7 demons in the Cavaliers’ triumph over the Toronto Raptors, and the Pistons became just the 15th team ever to erase a 3-1 deficit by overcoming the Orlando Magic.

Game 1 will begin at 7:10 p.m. ET tonight at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, less than 48 hours after Cleveland finished its game against Toronto.

The Pistons are 3.5-point favorites at DraftKings Sportsbook (-148 on the Moneyline) to protect their home court tonight, with the point total set to 215.5. The Cavaliers are +124 on the Moneyline.

For the playoffs, DraftKings is running a 30% Same-Game Parlay Profit Boost on SGP’s of at least four legs with at least +300 odds. Below, I’ve laid out my favorite qualifying SGP for you to consider.

Best Same Game Parlay for Cavaliers at Pistons Game 1

Cleveland Cavaliers Moneyline

Neither of these teams was particularly impressive during the first round, as Cleveland probably should’ve had an easier time dispatching a Raptors team that played basically .500 basketball across the final 63 games of the season and Detroit needed a Franz Wagner injury and a historic Game 6 collapse just to beat the Magic. In theory, the Cavaliers’ defense could be a problem, as they ranked just 18th in defensive rating after Harden made his team debut on February 7, but the teams matched up well during the regular season, splitting the four games they played. I’m just concerned about the Pistons’ half-court offense, especially since Jaylon Tyson did an excellent job against Cade Cunningham during the regular season. Detroit thrives in transition, averaging the second-most points off of turnovers during the regular season, and even after trading for the turnover-prone Harden, Cleveland was pretty careful with the ball. The Cavaliers’ superior three-point shooting could also be an effective counter in a matchup between two teams capable of shutting down the paint.

James Harden 20+ Points

Harden had a relatively quiet first round series, averaging just 20.6 points per game and crossing the 20-point plateau three times. He was especially passive in Game 7, shooting just three-for-nine and letting Jarrett Allen (22 points, 19 rebounds) cook. However, he did thrive at getting to the free throw line, attempting at least six in five of the seven games, and he should continue getting to the charity stripe at will against a team that was the league’s most foul-prone during the regular season. Plus, the Pistons are a completely different type of opponent than Toronto, and while the Raptors lack a quality center, Allen and Mobley are less likely to thrive against one of the league’s best rim-protecting teams, putting more of a scoring burden on Harden and Mitchell. Harden won’t have the easiest matchup in Defensive Player of the Year finalist Ausar Thompson, but he scored a solid 15 points against him in 62.4 partial possessions during the regular season, going six-for-seven from the free throw line.

Jalen Duren 11+ Rebounds

Duren had an extremely rough series for the first six games against Orlando, averaging merely 9.8 points and 8.5 rebounds per game. However, he finally found a groove in Game 7, scoring 15 points and adding 15 rebounds, and it’s important not to let a rough playoff series overshadow a stellar regular season (19.5 points and 10.5 rebounds per game, in which he recorded at least 11 boards in half of his 70 games). Cleveland, meanwhile, is a decent-but-not-elite rebounding team, ranking 10th in total rebounding percentage. Duren had at least 14 boards in each of his post-trade-deadline games against the Cavaliers, and while Mitchell didn’t play in either and Harden sat out one, their collective impact on the glass isn’t significant enough to result in a four-board dip. Duren is one inch taller and seven pounds heavier than Allen, and he snagged contested rebounds at a higher rate during the regular season.

Duncan Robinson 3+ Three-Pointers Made

Especially with Cleveland’s big-man duo of Allen and 2024-25 Defensive Player of the Year Evan Mobley capable of creating some problems in the paint, three-point shooting will be key for Detroit, and Robinson was the team’s only qualified shooter who hit his threes at a higher rate than expected during the regular season. He made at least three triples in five of the seven games against the Magic, as well as five of his six final regular season games. The Cavaliers also allowed among the most wide-open threes per game during both the regular season and the first round, and that’s a mistake they can’t afford to make against Robinson, who made 48.9% of his uncontested triples during the regular season and connected at a 38.1% rate during the first round.

Parlay Odds: +1100