Mitchell, Cavaliers eliminate Pistons, will play Knicks in East finals

The Cleveland Cavaliers have gone on the road and played Game ‌7 of the Eastern Conference semifinals like they’d been there before.

That’s because they had. And the experience paid off.

Donovan ⁠Mitchell led all scorers on Sunday night with ⁠26 points, Jarrett Allen enjoyed his second consecutive dominant series finale and the Cavaliers earned a spot in the Eastern Conference finals with a 125-94 shellacking of the host Detroit Pistons in the elimination game of their second-round playoff series.

Allen outscored ⁠rival big man Jalen Duren 23-7, Sam Merrill matched him with 23 points off the bench and Evan Mobley completed his first double-double of the series with 21 points and a game-high 12 rebounds. The fourth-seeded Cavaliers will face the third-seeded New York Knicks in a best-of-seven series that ⁠tips off on Tuesday night at New York’s Madison Square Garden.

It didn’t take long for the Cavaliers to start planning ahead.

“This is fantastic. I’m excited, believe me. But we’ve got to be more disciplined” on Tuesday, Mitchell told a television audience, making a reference to two series-opening losses at Detroit, then a defeat at home in Game 6. “We shouldn’t have to wait to get hit, to get punched in the mouth and face ‌a go-home situation.”

Mitchell, left, won the battle of the All-Star guards against Detroit’s Cade Cunningham, outscoring his opponent 26 to 13 in Game 7 [Gregory Shamus/Getty Images via AFP]

Cavs overwhelm Pistons early

Overpowering the top-seeded Pistons in every possible way, the Cavaliers built as much as a 20-point lead in the first half, extended the margin to as many as 26 in the third period and coasted into their first trip to the Eastern finals since beating the Boston Celtics in seven games in 2018.

Failing to get to the Eastern finals for the 18th consecutive year, the Pistons watched All-Star guard Cade Cunningham miss all seven of his three-point shots on a 13-point night and Tobias Harris fail to connect on any of his six shots from the field en route to five points.

In winning a Game 7 for the sixth ⁠consecutive time dating back to 2008, the Cavaliers outshot the Pistons with an accuracy rate of 50.6 percent (43 of 85) compared with 35.3 percent (30 of 85) and ⁠outrebounded them 50-41.

Allen, who had gone for 22 points and 19 rebounds when Cleveland needed a Game 7 to eliminate the Toronto Raptors in Round 1, had 15 of his 23 points in the first half. He nonetheless credited Mitchell for the early blitz.