{"id":464,"date":"2026-05-16T14:34:59","date_gmt":"2026-05-16T14:34:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=464"},"modified":"2026-05-16T14:34:59","modified_gmt":"2026-05-16T14:34:59","slug":"game-7s-have-been-kind-to-cavaliers-pistons-over-the-years-but-one-will-fall-on-sunday","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=464","title":{"rendered":"Game 7s have been kind to Cavaliers, Pistons over the years. But one will fall on Sunday"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n
Detroit Pistons\u2019 Ausar Thompson, left, and Cleveland Cavalirs\u2019 Max Strus, center, reach for the ball over Caris LeVert, right, in the first half of Game 6 of a second-round NBA basketball playoffs series Friday, May 15, 2026, in Cleveland. (AP Photo\/Sue Ogrocki)<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n

Game 7. That\u2019s a phrase that surely brings back a lot of good memories for fans of the Cleveland Cavaliers<\/a> and Detroit Pistons<\/a> .<\/p>

Read more Austria proves too good for Britain at ice hockey worlds<\/a><\/p>\n

Of course, only one of those groups will be happy on Sunday night.<\/p>\n

For the second consecutive round, the Cavaliers and Pistons are heading to a winner-take-all contest. Detroit plays host to Cleveland on Sunday night in Game 7 of their Eastern Conference semifinal series, with the winner set to face New York<\/a> in the East finals starting Tuesday.<\/p>\n

Detroit is 6-1 in Game 7s since 1990, while Cleveland is 5-0 in Game 7s since 2016 \u2014 with two of those wins coming in road games.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve seen this movie before,\u201d Cavaliers coach Kenny Atkinson said. \u201cIt\u2019s tough. It\u2019s hard. And it should be hard. The good thing is we\u2019ve put ourselves in a position to have a Game 7. But this is what it\u2019s about. Playoffs are hard. We\u2019ve got to close it out in Game 7.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cleveland\u2019s seven-game win in Round 1 this season was over Toronto; Detroit\u2019s seven-game win in Round 1 this season was over Orlando. The Cavaliers and Pistons both got to be at home for those games; Cleveland doesn\u2019t have that luxury this time around.<\/p>\n

The Cavs won Game 5<\/a> in Detroit to take command \u2014 albeit briefly \u2014 of the series, then lost 115-94<\/a> with a chance to close out the series at home on Friday. So, back to Detroit they go.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s one game on the road. There\u2019s no other way to put it,\u201d Cavaliers guard James Harden said. \u201cYou\u2019ve got to be detailed, you\u2019ve got to get off for a really good start, and you\u2019ve got to maintain and sustain it for an entire game, however long that takes. It really is just one game. Not saying you\u2019ve got to be perfect, but we\u2019ve got to do the details that we\u2019ve been preaching.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Pistons are now 4-0 this season when facing elimination after Friday\u2019s victory. They won four elimination games \u2014 total \u2014 in the last 20 seasons combined, though in fairness most of those years came and went without Detroit even making the playoffs.<\/p>\n

But this team is different. A 14-win laughingstock of a club two seasons ago held the No. 1 seed in the East for almost this entire season, and a sense of poise seems to have grown from that success.<\/p>

Read more NBA tipoff: Only a Game 7 left in Round 2, with Cavaliers-Pistons on Sunday<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cWe stay in the moment,\u201d Pistons guard Cade Cunningham said. \u201cWe don\u2019t get ahead of ourselves. But most importantly, we stick together. When things get ugly or whatever, we come together, we talk, we get back in the moment and then we move forward from there.\u201d<\/p>\n

Added Pistons coach J.B. Bickerstaff: \u201cThey just don\u2019t quit. The resolve that they have, the belief that they have in one another, they just have the ability to bounce back mentally where they don\u2019t hang onto things. Quarters don\u2019t bother them. Halves don\u2019t bother them. They just move on to the next play, stay moment to moment and try to win what\u2019s in front of them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sunday\u2019s winner will be the sixth team in this playoff format (the NBA began using best-of-seven series in Round 1 in 2003) to advance to the conference finals after winning Game 7s in both Round 1 and Round 2.<\/p>\n

The others:<\/p>\n

\u2014 Dallas, 2003<\/p>\n

The Mavs went 60-22 in the 2002-03 season and were the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference playoffs. They beat Portland 4-3 in Round 1, Sacramento 4-3 in Round 2, but fell in six games to San Antonio in the West finals.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Phoenix, 2006<\/p>\n

The Suns went 54-28 in the 2005-06 season and were the No. 2 seed in the West. They beat the Lakers 4-3 in Round 1, the Clippers 4-3 in Round 2, but fell in six games to Dallas in the West finals.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Boston, 2008<\/p>\n

The Celtics won the NBA title in 2007-08 the hard \u2014 really hard \u2014 way. Boston went 66-16 to grab the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs, then needed seven games to topple both Atlanta in Round 1 and Cleveland in Round 2. The Celtics beat Detroit in six games to win the East finals, then beat the Lakers in six games in the NBA Finals.<\/p>\n

Toronto, 2016<\/p>\n

The Raptors went 56-26 in 2015-16 and were the No. 2 seed in the East. They needed seven games to beat Indiana in Round 1 and Miami in Round 2, then lost in six games to Cleveland in the East finals.<\/p>\n

Denver, 2020<\/p>\n

In the bubble season the Nuggets finished 46-27 to grab the West\u2019s No. 3 seed. They beat Utah 4-3 in Round 1, the Clippers 4-3 in Round 2 \u2014 rallying from 3-1 down in both of those series \u2014 then lost to the Lakers 4-1 in the West finals.<\/p>

Read more Hearts one point away from becoming Scottish champion and ending 41-year rule by Celtic and Rangers<\/a><\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

AP NBA: https:\/\/apnews.com\/nba<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Game 7<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":462,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-464","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interesting"],"yoast_head":"\nGame 7s have been kind to Cavaliers, Pistons over the years. But one will fall on Sunday - Moving Insider USA<\/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:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=464\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Game 7s have been kind to Cavaliers, Pistons over the years. But one will fall on Sunday - Moving Insider USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Game 7\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=464\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Moving Insider USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-05-16T14:34:59+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/ef9027765590a9224406765277c1c1bc-scaled.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1707\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\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=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=464#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=464\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/22d40ab81790f6a361021763bb56ef03\"},\"headline\":\"Game 7s have been kind to Cavaliers, Pistons over the years. But one will fall on Sunday\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-16T14:34:59+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=464\"},\"wordCount\":894,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=464#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/ef9027765590a9224406765277c1c1bc-scaled.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Interesting\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=464#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=464\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=464\",\"name\":\"Game 7s have been kind to Cavaliers, Pistons over the years. But one will fall on Sunday - Moving Insider USA\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=464#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=464#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/ef9027765590a9224406765277c1c1bc-scaled.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-16T14:34:59+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/22d40ab81790f6a361021763bb56ef03\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=464#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=464\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=464#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/ef9027765590a9224406765277c1c1bc-scaled.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/ef9027765590a9224406765277c1c1bc-scaled.jpg\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":1707},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=464#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Game 7s have been kind to Cavaliers, Pistons over the years. But one will fall on Sunday\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Moving Insider USA\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/22d40ab81790f6a361021763bb56ef03\",\"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:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Game 7s have been kind to Cavaliers, Pistons over the years. But one will fall on Sunday - Moving Insider USA","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:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=464","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Game 7s have been kind to Cavaliers, Pistons over the years. But one will fall on Sunday - Moving Insider USA","og_description":"Game 7","og_url":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=464","og_site_name":"Moving Insider USA","article_published_time":"2026-05-16T14:34:59+00:00","og_image":[{"width":2560,"height":1707,"url":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/ef9027765590a9224406765277c1c1bc-scaled.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=464#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=464"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/#\/schema\/person\/22d40ab81790f6a361021763bb56ef03"},"headline":"Game 7s have been kind to Cavaliers, Pistons over the years. But one will fall on Sunday","datePublished":"2026-05-16T14:34:59+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=464"},"wordCount":894,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=464#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/ef9027765590a9224406765277c1c1bc-scaled.jpg","articleSection":["Interesting"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=464#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=464","url":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=464","name":"Game 7s have been kind to Cavaliers, Pistons over the years. But one will fall on Sunday - Moving Insider USA","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=464#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=464#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/ef9027765590a9224406765277c1c1bc-scaled.jpg","datePublished":"2026-05-16T14:34:59+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/#\/schema\/person\/22d40ab81790f6a361021763bb56ef03"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=464#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=464"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=464#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/ef9027765590a9224406765277c1c1bc-scaled.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/ef9027765590a9224406765277c1c1bc-scaled.jpg","width":2560,"height":1707},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=464#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Game 7s have been kind to Cavaliers, Pistons over the years. But one will fall on Sunday"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/","name":"Moving Insider USA","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/#\/schema\/person\/22d40ab81790f6a361021763bb56ef03","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:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com"],"url":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/464","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=464"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/464\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/462"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=464"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=464"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=464"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}