Donovan Mitchell got the attention — Cleveland cashed in everywhere else

Donovan Mitchell still paced the Cavs with 26 points, but the bigger issue for Detroit was that Jarrett Allen and Sam Merrill each added 23.

The Pistons simply couldn’t make up the difference, no matter how many defenders they threw at Mitchell.

Detroit’s plan for most of the series was to funnel Cleveland’s offence straight into a bottleneck. When Mitchell had to do everything, they were comfortable packing the paint, cutting off driving lanes and letting him settle for tough jumpers late in the clock.

But by Game 7, that approach fell apart. Allen kept scoring inside, Merrill provided spacing off the bench, and Cleveland simply had too many threats for Detroit to crowd any single area. By the end of three quarters, with the Cavs up 99-68, it was already over.

Jarrett Allen changed the pressure map

Allen’s 23 points were the clearest sign that Cleveland had taken control of the paint. Earlier in the series, Detroit managed to survive possessions by meeting the ball high and relying on their back line to recover. But when Allen is scoring efficiently enough to punish every late rotation, that approach becomes much harder.

Once Cleveland was getting inside production without relying on Mitchell to bail them out, Detroit had a choice to make: leave Allen more space or stay home and give Mitchell clearer looks. Neither option held up for four quarters.

Merrill’s points carried weight because they came from the exact areas where a defence starts to fall apart. Detroit had already been forced into tough decisions about how much help they could send towards the ball, and a reserve wing knocking down shots off those choices shifted the defence from aggressive to reactive.

That’s why this game felt so different from Cleveland’s shakier moments earlier in the series. Merrill didn’t just provide scoring off the bench; he made Detroit pay for focusing too heavily on the ball.

The Pistons fell short on a scoring spark

Cade Cunningham and Duncan Robinson each finished with 13 points, a number that reflected just how limited Detroit’s offence was once the Cavs took charge. The Pistons needed things to stay chaotic long enough for Cunningham to take over late.

But it didn’t happen that way. Cleveland built their lead before Detroit could settle in, and without enough shooters to answer back, the gap never closed.

New York will require a different plan, but this Cleveland side is better equipped to test the Knicks across the court. If Allen keeps scoring, Mitchell keeps dictating the tempo, and the shooters remain a threat, this team becomes less reliant on star power and more about posing matchup problems.

That’s what came out of Game 7. Cleveland advanced because of Mitchell, but what made them look more dangerous was that Detroit couldn’t fit their whole offence into one plan anymore.

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