Category: Sports News

They say that in a tense situation, you should open with a joke. Here is a joke. There are no players on the injury report for the Detroit Pistons, meaning everyone is available to play. It’s just a shame that the only thing that brings everyone back together is a funeral.

End of joke.

Anyway, the Detroit Pistons are facing elimination on the road against the Cleveland Cavaliers, who have not lost a game in Rocket Arena during these playoffs. The Pistons have been here before. They trailed the Orlando Magic 3-1 and triumphed. What kind of performance will we see tonight? Hopefully one like in Game 1 of this series, where it was clear that Detroit was the better team. Will we get that tonight? Not based on the last three games. But it’s basketball. Anything can happen.

Game Vitals

When: 7 p.m. ET
Where: Rocket Arena, Cleveland, Ohio
Watch: Prime Video
Odds: Pistons +3.5

Projected Lineups

Detroit Pistons (2-3)

Cade Cunningham, Duncan Robinson, Ausar Thompson, Tobias Harris, Jalen Duren

Cleveland Cavaliers (3-2)

James Harden, Donovan Mitchell, Dean Wade, Evan Mobley, Jarrett Allen

The Cleveland Cavaliers will try to punch their ticket to the Eastern Conference Finals tonight.

Share your thoughts as the game unfolds. If you aren’t a member of the community, sign up so you can talk to your fellow Cavalier fans and make your voice heard!

Go Cavs!

The Cleveland Cavaliers have reached a point in their second-round series with the Detroit Pistons where all the cards are already on the table. It’s unlikely either team will do anything overly shocking in Game 6. It will be more of the same, with minor tweaks and varying execution.

One trick the Cavs have up their sleeves, however, is when and where they choose to trap Cade Cunningham.

Cunningham might carry the heaviest individual load in the league. Detroit’s success on offense relies almost entirely on his shoulders. That’s why his usage is through the roof, with Cunningham attempting the most field goals per game in the playoffs at 21.6.

This can lead to great things. Cunningham was lights out for most of Game 5, scoring 39 points and pushing his team to the brink of a 3-2 lead. But something changed in the final minutes, and the toll of everything Cade had carried up to that point was eventually paid.

The Cavs began sending two to the ball. Cunnigham saw multiple defenders in front of him, with pressure on him as soon as he crossed halfcourt. This forced Cunningham to give up the rock and work harder to get open. That’s a lot to ask of someone who played 48 minutes in Game 5. The results speak for themselves.

Cunnigham struggled against the trap. He scored just 2 points in the final 10 minutes of regulation and overtime, shooting 1-4 and turning it over at a key point of the game. Max Strus, who stole Cunningham’s inbound pass in the fourth quarter of Game 3, once again capitalized on Cunningham’s exhaustion by ripping him in the backcourt during overtime of Game 5.

When you’re tired, you make mistakes. The Cavs waited until the perfect moment to ramp up the pressure on Cunningham. The question is, can they find the same luck tonight?

“It’s a feel,” said Kenny Atkinson. “Do you do it after a timeout? You do it to throw them off balance, so do you do it on the first play? To end the game? Obviously, you’ve got to know when to, or not to, go with it.”

Doubling a player like Cunningham comes with risks. You’re giftwrapping the Pistons’ offense a numbers advantage by putting two on the ball. You can get burned in a hurry if Detroit’s role players convert on those scenarios.

That’s why it’s important to deploy this strategy at the right time. Do it too early, and you risk allowing the Pistons to find a rhythym. Do it too late, and well, you’re too late. Mixing up the coverage and keeping Cunningham on his toes is all you can do.

“He’s a great player, we can’t give him one look,” said Aktinson. “So we’re gonna keep mixing it up, and there have been games this series where we didn’t double-team, so it’s a feel.”

The Cavs have an opportunity to eliminate the 60-win Pistons and advance to the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time since 2018. To do so, they’ll have to activate their best defensive strategy at the right moment and deliver the knockout blow.

Here are the NBA playoff games for Friday, May 15, 2026:

• Los Angeles Lakers at Oklahoma City Thunder — 7 p.m. ET (ESPN)
• Cleveland Cavaliers at Detroit Pistons — 9:30 p.m. ET (ESPN)

In addition, the Washington Mystics play the Indiana Fever tonight at 7:30 p.m. ET. The game is on ion.

Enjoy the games!

Karl-Anthony Towns called his own shot — in order to get better shots for those around him. 

There has been so much written and said about the change the Knicks made with Towns, and the decision to play their offense through him as a facilitator from the elbows.

It has been a central storyline of their unprecedented dominance through the first two rounds. 

But how was that decision reached? 

Towns claimed that when the Knicks trailed 2-1 in the first round against the Hawks, he went to the coaching staff and vouched for the change. 

“You’re down 2-1, obviously it’s not the end of the world but you guys understand the importance of the next game. … You go in there and say how you feel, your feelings, your idea and see if it’s received,” Towns said after practice Friday. “And it was received.” 

It certainly has been.

And across the two years of this core and the one year under coach Mike Brown, it’s unlocked the best version of these Knicks. 

Towns has more than doubled his regular-season average of 3.0 assists per game to 6.6 in the postseason.

It’s allowed those around him — notably Jalen Brunson — to be cutters and screeners off the ball, resulting in better shot quality for them.

It’s made the Knicks offense much more dynamic. 

The Knicks have won seven straight postseason games since then.

They have a point differential of plus-185 points in that span.

Their 125.3 points per game on offense is the most among playoff teams. 

Towns, from the preseason through the entirety of the regular season, was not shy about his thoughts on his role in the offense.

There were constant statements about getting used to Brown’s system and trying to adjust to what Brown wants him to do.

There were a few times he struggled to find answers as to why he was so uninvolved.

It was clear that Towns wanted more, but he kept pointing to the need to sacrifice for the greater good. 

Now, the greater good has been found with Towns as a focal point. 

“I’ve always loved this role,” Towns said of being a facilitator. “I’ve always wanted this role, so [I’m] happy we got to this point.” 

Does he feel vindicated at all? 

• CHECK OUT THE LATEST NBA STANDINGS AND KNICKS STATS

“I’ve always said since the beginning, I’ll do whatever it takes to impact winning,” Towns said. “I’m glad I’ve been able to do that with this changing role and be able to help our team win. That’s the most important thing. And utilize my talent.” 

The Post previously reported that assistant coach and offensive coordinator Chris Jent also played a role in bringing the idea to Brown. 

“You can’t act upon everything,” Brown said Friday. “Because if you act upon everything,  you’re going to be driving yourself crazy and everybody else crazy. It was just something where we were struggling to score [at the time] and I had been thinking about it for awhile and it finally came to me at that point. … I take suggestions from everybody. At the end of the day, it’s up to me to make the decision of yea or nay. The tough part about it is, sometimes when you have suggestions, and there are a lot of good ones out there, a suggestion is one thing, but trying to actually put the suggestion into something that can be real for the group and fit the group, not just that one person, that’s the tricky part. 

“I’ve always been a guy that if you come to me with a suggestion, a lot of times, especially as a coach, you gotta have something to back it up. Some video, some analytics. Tell me how.” 

That last part is important. 

They were small sample sizes, but the Knicks had seen evidence that having the ball in Towns’ hands as a facilitator worked.

“Using KAT sometimes at the end of the [shot] clock, we started using him more [in that role],” Miles McBride said Friday. “And then we kind of naturally started getting into it. Obviously, our coaches are taking notice. It’s kind of what we’ve been doing all year, but I think the more it started happening when, at the end of the clock, guys were [playing] off of him and then we started using it, guys playing off the ball, and then we kind of just started making it a point of emphasis.

“I felt like it was something [Towns] was always capable of.” 

A few factors came together at the perfect time to produce the change that has the Knicks surging.