Donovan Mitchell records his 35th career 30-point postseason game \u2013 and 16th with the Cavaliers \u2013 in a Game 3 thriller.<\/p>\n
\u2022\u00a0Download the NBA App<\/a><\/p>\n As it turned out, the winning streak continued Saturday.<\/p>\n Not the Detroit Pistons\u2019 streak in this Eastern Conference semifinal series<\/a>, but the longer one \u2014 by the Cleveland Cavaliers at home in the playoffs, where they\u2019ve now won five in a row.<\/p>\n The change of venue and city resulted in a change of fortune for the Cavs, who twice came up empty in Detroit but rediscovered the comforts of Cleveland in a 116-109 victory<\/a>.<\/p>\n Whether it was because of a more familiar atmosphere or a great sense of urgency \u2014 maybe both \u2014 the Cavs had all the answers down the stretch of Game 3.<\/p>\n They briefly lost a 17-point lead but not their composure; when a defensive stand or basket was needed, one was delivered. Ultimately, they rode the strong play of Donovan Mitchell and survived a triple-double by Cade Cunningham and also this must be said \u2014 welcome to the conference finals, James Harden.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s the James Harden we know,\u201d said Cavs coach Kenny Atkinson. \u201cWe needed it tonight.\u201d<\/p>\n Here are the Takeaways from the Cavs\u2019 first win of the conference semifinals:<\/p>\n 1. Harden goes hard in clutch<\/p>\n Well, a performance like this helps.<\/p>\n This brought the Cavs within a game of tying the series, reassured his teammates and the fanbase, put all conversations about his playoff history on hold and no doubt gives him a confidence boost for Game 4 on Monday if he needs it.<\/p>\n And he definitely needed an effort like he delivered Saturday, especially in the fourth quarter, right when the Cavs needed him most.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Cade Cunningham & James Harden trade baskets throughout Game 3 on May 9, 2026.<\/p>\n Not only did Harden score off a pair of isolations with a runner and then a 3-pointer in the last 90 seconds, but what\u2019s just as surprising is Mitchell \u2014 who had a terrific game to that point \u2014 stepped aside and yielded to Harden in a situation that normally belongs to Mitchell.<\/p>\n \u201cI feel like we\u2019ve been seeing that for 17 years,\u201d said Mitchell. \u201cThere was no doubt the right play was gonna be made. It\u2019s always good to give him his space and let him attack.\u201d<\/p>\n That speaks to Mitchell\u2019s faith in Harden and also how Harden confirmed that faith with a clap-back performance, easily his best of this series and perhaps these playoffs, all things considered.<\/p>\n Harden had nine of his 19 points in the fourth and for the first time in this series was an asset and not a liability. Previously buried underneath a rash of turnovers and unable to connect on deep shots in the first two games, Harden was a different player \u2014 not as reckless (just three turnovers) and refreshingly reliable.<\/p>\n He also contested a Duncan Robinson 3-point attempt in the final seconds off an inbounds pass, forcing Robinson to airball the shot, to preserve the victory. He protected the ball, got buckets, played defense. A turnaround effort.<\/p>\n 2. Mitchell goes downhill with no brakes or breaks.<\/p>\n There was the sense that Mitchell wasn\u2019t allowing the Cavs to lose this game. It was all in his body language, his swagger, his determination and maybe his desperation.<\/p>\n This was a player who decided to lay it on the line as if this was a Game 7. He was constantly in attack mode and wore down Detroit\u2019s defense in the process.<\/p>\n But he remained in control. Mitchell shot well \u2014 13-for-24 \u2014 and went to the free throw line (shooting 7-for-8), good for 35 points.<\/p>\n In addition, realizing the Cavs needed more toughness than they showed in the first two games, Mitchell added 10 rebounds. This was his fourth 30-point game in these playoffs.<\/p>\n \u201cTonight was, we gotta go get this one,\u201d said Atkinson.<\/p>\n His best player adopted that attitude and approach and it seemed infectious.<\/p>\n 3. Cade\u2019s triple-double wasted<\/p>\n There were times when Cunningham looked as though he would bail out the Pistons, and there were times when it appeared Cunningham himself needed to be rescued.<\/p>\n It was that kind of weird afternoon for the Pistons\u2019 star.<\/p>\n The good: Cunningham notched a 27-10-10 triple double and typical of him, gave his team a chance to win by producing a variety of ways, on both ends of the floor.<\/p>\n The not so good: Cunningham was also faulty \u2014 eight turnovers, including three in a 30-second span of the fourth, including a mystifying pair of poor passes plus an offensive foul in the final 2 1\/2 minutes of a tight game.<\/p>\n One of those passes, an inbounds, was intercepted by Max Strus for a quick Cleveland transition basket. As is his nature, Cunningham wasn\u2019t flustered; he answered with a dunk and 3-point shot a few possessions later and sent a shiver through the building.<\/p>\n 4. The X-factors of Game 3<\/p>\n A few players not-so-quietly stood out Saturday:<\/p>\n Paul Reed, Pistons Jarrett Allen, Cavs Dennis Schr\u00f6der, Cavs * * *<\/p>\n Shaun Powell has covered the NBA since 1985. You can e-mail him at\u00a0spowell@nba.com<\/a>, find\u00a0his archive here<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0follow him on\u00a0X<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Donovan Mitchell records his 35th career 30-point postseason game \u2013 and 16th with the Cavaliers \u2013 in a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":660987,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[557],"tags":[64,63,319328,590,85],"class_list":["post-660986","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nba","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-cavaliers-pistons-game-3","tag-nba","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/660986","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=660986"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/660986\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/660987"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=660986"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=660986"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=660986"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
There\u2019s no guarantee what role players will do when tossed into the playoff heat. Well, Reed not only survived but showed he wasn\u2019t intimidated by the assignment. He was solid \u2014 11 points in 10 minutes, plus three rebounds, plus good defense. He did not try to blend in; at times, he stood out. Curiously, the Pistons stuck with Jalen Duren, who struggled over Reed down the stretch. Anyway, this performance should bless Reed with more minutes going forward.<\/p>\n
Mostly a ghost through the first two games and often outplayed by Duren on the boards, Allen responded strongly Saturday. He was active at both ends. His play on the pick-and-roll with Harden was crisp; Allen scored 18 points, his high for the series, while Duren managed just 11 and even more important, only four rebounds.<\/p>\n
He annoyed the Pistons with his play and especially his antics \u2014 routine for him \u2014 and finally put his fingerprints on the series. The backup guard also absorbed some of the ball handling chores from Harden, who had been mistake-prone, giving Cleveland another playmaking source; Atkinson at times had them on the floor together. Best of all, Schroder wasn\u2019t over the top. He had 11 points in 22 minutes.<\/p>\n