{"id":13,"date":"2026-05-14T13:38:02","date_gmt":"2026-05-14T13:38:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/?p=13"},"modified":"2026-05-14T13:38:02","modified_gmt":"2026-05-14T13:38:02","slug":"cavs-rally-from-15-down-to-win-in-ot-on-cusp-of-first-east-finals-since-2018-takeaways","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/?p=13","title":{"rendered":"Cavs rally from 15 down to win in OT, on cusp of first East finals since 2018: Takeaways"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n

All the Cleveland Cavaliers had to do to earn their first road win of these playoffs was rally from an early 15-point deficit, overcome a horrific start to the fourth quarter and survive an extra five minutes.<\/p>\n

Read more \u2018Cot sleeping program\u2019 being expanded to West Hawaii<\/a><\/p>\n

But after securing a hard-fought 117-113 overtime road win against the Detroit Pistons in Game 5, the Cavaliers took a 3-2 series lead and are now just one win away from advancing to the Eastern Conference finals for the first time since 2018.<\/p>\n

\n
\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

James Harden scored a team-high 30 points, and the Cavaliers overcame three turnovers and an 0-for-9 shooting start to the fourth quarter. It allowed the Pistons to go on a 12-0 run and build a nine-point lead with 2 1\/2 minutes left in regulation. And that was after the Cavaliers fell behind by 15 midway through the second quarter.<\/p>\n

Donovan Mitchell added 21 points for the Cavaliers, who also got 19 points, eight rebounds and eight assists from Evan Mobley and 16 points and 10 rebounds from Jarrett Allen.<\/p>\n

Cade Cunningham led the Pistons with a game-high 39 points with seven rebounds and nine assists.<\/p>\n

Here are some takeaways with Game 6 set for Friday in Cleveland.<\/p>\n

How does one overcome an 11-point difference in points off turnovers? Get to the foul line and make a bunch more of those free throws than the home team.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s how the Cavs survived their 17 turnovers, worth 27 points \u2014 27!<\/em> \u2014 to win Game 5 and get to the brink of the Eastern Conference finals.<\/p>\n

J.B. Bickerstaff, the former Cleveland coach who is on the Pistons\u2019 sideline now and is not at all happy about the officiating over the last three games, said after Game 4 \u201cthe whistle has changed.\u201d I asked him Wednesday what he meant, and he said \u201cCleveland is getting more calls.\u201d And then the Cavs went 31 of 38 from the stripe in Game 5 compared to Detroit\u2019s 18 of 20. That\u2019s a wild discrepancy in favor of the road team.<\/p>\n

But the Cavs will take it. James Harden has certainly justified their trading for him. He was 11 of 14 at the line. Max Strus has been the unsung hero of Cleveland\u2019s playoff run. His six 3s off the bench were huge.<\/p>\n

Cleveland had the ball with 21.7 seconds left, two time outs, and a chance to win. The Cavs didn\u2019t call one and ran \u2026 nothing. Donovan Mitchell, whose box score of 21 points was deceiving, dribbled aimlessly while being hounded by Detroit defenders until his weak shot attempt was easily knocked away by Ausar Thompson before time expired. Yes, a timeout would\u2019ve allowed the Pistons to put Jalen Duren back in the game for defense, but when it became clear Mitchell wasn\u2019t going to get anything good, it was a surprise coach Kenny Atkinson didn\u2019t bail out the team without a timeout.<\/p>\n

They were set up for another heartbreaking road loss in overtime. But poise at the line, and the opportunity to get there, has the Cavs on the verge of advancing to play the New York Knicks. <\/p>\n

Read more Hawaii lawmakers pave way for regular Young Brothers rate hikes<\/a><\/p>\n

The Pistons couldn\u2019t capitalize in overtime after being outscored by the Cavaliers 51-43 in the second half to force the extra five minutes. Daniss Jenkins, who started in place of Duncan Robinson (low back soreness), was Detroit\u2019s second leading scorer with 19 points. Cade Cunningham had 39.<\/p>\n

Detroit sorely missed Robinson on a night it could\u2019ve used his gravity and 3-point prowess. The Pistons finished 11 of 31 from long range, which wasn\u2019t enough to stave off defeat in a decisive Game 5 loss.<\/p>\n

J.B. Bickerstaff benched big man Jalen Duren, whose playoff struggles continued (nine points, five rebounds and a game-worst minus-16), to go with Paul Reed during the fourth quarter and overtime. Reed added 10 points and eight rebounds in 17 minutes.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately for Detroit, its efforts from Jenkins and Reed weren\u2019t enough to supplement Cunningham\u2019s big scoring night. Cunningham was held to two points in overtime as the Cavaliers trapped him relentlessly, and the Pistons were unable to generate any other source of reliable offense. Cleveland earned its first road win of the postseason when it needed to most, now heading back to Rocket Arena with a 3-2 lead looking to close out and advance to the Eastern Conference Finals. \u2014 Hunter Patterson<\/em><\/p>\n

The Cavaliers have been labeled a soft team for years, but they\u2019ve done their best during this series to shed that label for good. Rallying from a nine-point deficit over the final three minutes of the fourth quarter, on the road, is the epitome of mental toughness.<\/p>\n

Cleveland is one win away from its first conference finals appearance since 2018 and the first without LeBron James on the roster since 1992. They can close out the Pistons at home on Friday, where they haven\u2019t lost yet in the postseason.<\/p>\n

The Cavs get into trouble in this series when they turn the ball over. Otherwise, the Pistons struggle to consistently generate good looks outside of Cade Cunningham in their half-court offense.<\/p>\n

Cavs coach Kenny Atkinson boldly said before the game he felt like the Cavs had seized the momentum in this series. It seemed risky to declare given that neither team had won a road game yet in the series. There\u2019s no debating it now.<\/p>\n

Despite another off shooting night from Mitchell, Harden redeemed himself from two lousy games in this building last week and the Cavs \u2014 particularly Mitchell \u2014 are one win away from that conference championship series appearance that has eluded him throughout his career.\n<\/p>\n

Read more \u2018Cot sleeping program\u2019 being expanded to West Hawaii<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Cavs rally from 15 down to win in OT, on cusp of first East finals since 2018: Takeaways – Sports | Hawaii Tribune-Herald<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":12,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports"],"yoast_head":"\nCavs rally from 15 down to win in OT, on cusp of first East finals since 2018: Takeaways - Moving to Hawaii Guide<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/?p=13\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Cavs rally from 15 down to win in OT, on cusp of first East finals since 2018: Takeaways - Moving to Hawaii Guide\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Cavs rally from 15 down to win in OT, on cusp of first East finals since 2018: Takeaways - Sports | Hawaii Tribune-Herald\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/?p=13\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Moving to Hawaii Guide\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-05-14T13:38:02+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/d4f90889438bf5d3044927b132e26d3d.webp\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"760\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"507\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/webp\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\\\/?p=13#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\\\/?p=13\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/aab134479722ebfc548519f5ae92ff84\"},\"headline\":\"Cavs rally from 15 down to win in OT, on cusp of first East finals since 2018: Takeaways\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-14T13:38:02+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\\\/?p=13\"},\"wordCount\":953,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\\\/?p=13#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/d4f90889438bf5d3044927b132e26d3d.webp\",\"articleSection\":[\"Sports\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\\\/?p=13#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\\\/?p=13\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\\\/?p=13\",\"name\":\"Cavs rally from 15 down to win in OT, on cusp of first East finals since 2018: Takeaways - Moving to Hawaii Guide\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\\\/?p=13#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\\\/?p=13#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/d4f90889438bf5d3044927b132e26d3d.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-14T13:38:02+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/aab134479722ebfc548519f5ae92ff84\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\\\/?p=13#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\\\/?p=13\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\\\/?p=13#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/d4f90889438bf5d3044927b132e26d3d.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/d4f90889438bf5d3044927b132e26d3d.webp\",\"width\":760,\"height\":507},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\\\/?p=13#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Cavs rally from 15 down to win in OT, on cusp of first East finals since 2018: Takeaways\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Moving to Hawaii Guide\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/aab134479722ebfc548519f5ae92ff84\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Cavs rally from 15 down to win in OT, on cusp of first East finals since 2018: Takeaways - Moving to Hawaii Guide","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/?p=13","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Cavs rally from 15 down to win in OT, on cusp of first East finals since 2018: Takeaways - Moving to Hawaii Guide","og_description":"Cavs rally from 15 down to win in OT, on cusp of first East finals since 2018: Takeaways - Sports | Hawaii Tribune-Herald","og_url":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/?p=13","og_site_name":"Moving to Hawaii Guide","article_published_time":"2026-05-14T13:38:02+00:00","og_image":[{"width":760,"height":507,"url":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/d4f90889438bf5d3044927b132e26d3d.webp","type":"image\/webp"}],"author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/?p=13#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/?p=13"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/#\/schema\/person\/aab134479722ebfc548519f5ae92ff84"},"headline":"Cavs rally from 15 down to win in OT, on cusp of first East finals since 2018: Takeaways","datePublished":"2026-05-14T13:38:02+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/?p=13"},"wordCount":953,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/?p=13#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/d4f90889438bf5d3044927b132e26d3d.webp","articleSection":["Sports"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/?p=13#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/?p=13","url":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/?p=13","name":"Cavs rally from 15 down to win in OT, on cusp of first East finals since 2018: Takeaways - Moving to Hawaii Guide","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/?p=13#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/?p=13#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/d4f90889438bf5d3044927b132e26d3d.webp","datePublished":"2026-05-14T13:38:02+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/#\/schema\/person\/aab134479722ebfc548519f5ae92ff84"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/?p=13#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/?p=13"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/?p=13#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/d4f90889438bf5d3044927b132e26d3d.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/d4f90889438bf5d3044927b132e26d3d.webp","width":760,"height":507},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/?p=13#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Cavs rally from 15 down to win in OT, on cusp of first East finals since 2018: Takeaways"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/","name":"Moving to Hawaii Guide","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/#\/schema\/person\/aab134479722ebfc548519f5ae92ff84","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com"],"url":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=13"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/12"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=13"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=13"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=13"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}