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Detroit Pistons star Cade Cunningham made NBA history against the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Trailing early in Game 6 didn’t wipe away their cool. Soon enough, they channeled the good ol’ Bad Boys spirit and shot the home team out of their own gym.
The Detroit Pistons did it again. They forced another Game 7 exactly two weeks after they forced the first one.
Perhaps they just like it better that way.
On Sunday, the Mo-Town Ballers will receive an opportunity to play a sink-or-swim game in front of their home crowd. The Pistons are seeking their first conference finals appearance since NBA MVP candidate Cade Cunningham was in second grade.
Not only that, Detroit can become just the ninth 60-plus win team in NBA history to win multiple Game 7s in one postseason. Seven of the last eight teams that did it went on to win a championship, according to NBA on ESPN.
That feeling set in after Game 5.
The Pistons lost their third game in a row. Suddenly, the thought of once possessing a 2-0 series lead invoked anxiety.
GettyDETROIT, MICHIGAN – NOVEMBER 28: Head coach J.B. Bickerstaff of the Detroit Pistons reacts during the first quarter against the Orlando Magic at Little Caesars Arena on November 28, 2025 in Detroit, Michigan. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Nic Antaya/Getty Images)
Losing three straight playoff games is grounds for total disaster. Forget winning a championship or competing in the NBA Finals.
But the Pistons clawed back in Game 6 in Cleveland by throwing a second half haymaker. Cunningham was the usual calming, steading presence, while the defense of Ausar Thompson, more suffocating than a rush-hour elevator with no room to move, quite literally changed the game in crucial moments.
Said Pistons head coach J.B. Bickerstaff after the win: “He’s one of the best defensive players in this league. I think sometimes he does things that are so amazing that they get called as fouls, but he’s just playing great defense. … It looks like, well, he must have done something illegal, but that’s just how great he is defensively.”
Cunningham, meanwhile, didn’t explode for nearly 40 points like he did in the Game 5 loss, but he kept up his hot perimeter shooting — he shot 5-for-10 on 3-pointers and is converting at a blistering 47.6% clip for the series — and flexed his typically elite gravity.
The Pistons avoided a four-game slide to end their series. There will be a Game 7 for all the marbles.
GettyDetroit Pistons head coach J.B. Bickerstaff provided high praise to star guard Cade Cunningham in an interview with the media on Thursday.
History is on the Pistons’ side. Having to play two Game 7s before even the conference finals is certainly rough on the body, but, boy, are the Pistons enduring some postseason scar tissue.
They can join the likes of the defending NBA champion Oklahoma City Thunder and Larry Bird’s 1984 Boston Celtics among teams to win multiple Game 7s in a single postseason. That is saying something.
The X-factor difference maker for the Pistons in Game 6 was star big man Jalen Duren, who has often looked far from a star in these playoffs.
But he came to play in Cleveland on Friday.
He snatched offensive rebounds and was a literal animal in all the hustle stats. Duren finished the game with 15 points (most since Game 7 against the Orlando Magic), 11 rebounds and three blocks.
Detroit needs that Duren in Game 7. That Duren has already appeared once in another Game 7 earlier this month, which is a tremendous sign for Sunday’s elimination contest.
Adel Ahmad Adel is a writer with over five years of experience covering the NBA. His work has appeared on various media platforms, both national and local. More about Adel Ahmad
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