The back half of the NBA conference semifinals tipped off with another pair of series openers.
In the first game Tuesday, May 5, the No. 1 Pistons built an early lead against No. 4 Cavaliers, extending it to as many as 18 points, but Detroit needed to fend off a Cleveland rally in the fourth to defend homecourt.
In the nightcap, the No. 1 seed Oklahoma City Thunder continued their quest to repeat with a defensive masterclass at home against the No. 4 seed Los Angeles Lakers.
Here are the winners and losers from Tuesday night’s conference semifinal games between the Pistons and Cavaliers and Thunder and Lakers:
LAKERS VS. THUNDER: Updates, highlights, scores from Game 1
Oklahoma City’s bench is one of its several strengths, and the group was ready in Game 1. The Thunder bench outscored L.A.’s by a 34-15 margin, which put intense pressure on the Lakers when their starters sat.
Jared McCain led the way with 12 points, but Isaiah Joe chipped in 9 and Alex Caruso and Cason Wallce added 5 points apiece. It’s not just offense, however, where this group makes its mark. Wallace and Caruso are excellent defenders and Wallace — as he has most of the season — was a menace; he swiped 3 steals and also recorded 1 block.
So on a night when the Lakers threw bodies at Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the role players delivered.
How does a team shoot a worse percentage than its opponent, have only one more field goal yet win by 10? Get to the free throw line.
The plan for the Pistons early in the game was clear: attack the paint and put Cavs defenders in compromising positions. The Pistons went to the line 35 times and converted 27 of those for a solid 77.1% from the stripe.
And for all the free throws the Pistons shot, the Cavaliers were on the opposite end, going 15-of-16 (93.8%). That means that, in a 10-point game, Detroit’s advantage from the line created a +12 edge.
“I want to separate this from the game,” Donovan Mitchell told reporters after the loss. “The free throw disparity is not why we lost tonight — I want to make sure I say that, but I don’t know, I’m trying to get downhill.
“A friend of mine (Jaylen Brown) got fined for talking about flopping, so I’m not going to try to double down, but, like, I feel like that’s what I’ve got to do at this point. I’m trying to get downhill, get to the bucket and sometimes people are in my way and I’m trying to fight through contact and I’m not getting these calls.”
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The other reason Detroit launched massive runs was because it turned defense into offense. Detroit’s perimeter players smothered Cleveland’s guards, jumping passing lanes and forcing tough passes in pick-and-roll actions. That flustered the Cavs and led to easy Pistons points in transition.
The Pistons forced 19 turnovers (compared to only 11 committed), which led to a 31-16 edge in points off turnovers.
Not surprisingly, Detroit also sprinted to a 15-6 advantage in fastbreak points.
They’ll still want more offense out of Jalen Duren (11 points on 4-of-11 shooting), but the Pistons didn’t need to rely entirely on Cade Cunningham. And, for Detroit, that’s a recipe for success.
Tobias Harris (20 points) continued his hot start to the playoffs, Duncan Robinson (19) drained 5 3-pointers and Daniss Jenkins (12) provided a spark off the bench.
Essentially, with Dončić out, the Lakers need to play as close to perfect hoops as possible to have a chance against the defending champs. Austin Reaves is playing in just his third game since returning from an oblique injury, so some initial struggles are to be expected. Los Angeles, however, cannot afford that.
Reaves was harassed by Oklahoma City’s perimeter defense and he shot just 3-of-16 from the field, finishing with only 8 points.
One issue Reaves may face in this series is the size and length of the Thunder defenders. Whether it was Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Cason Wallace, Luguentz Dort, Alex Caruso — all excellent defenders in their own right — their physicality made it tough for Reaves all night long.
Simply put: there’s no way the Cavaliers will have a chance in this series if their top two scorers struggle through three quarters the way they did Tuesday night. Mitchell showed some promise in the first half, scoring 14 points on 6-of-11 shooting. Yet, he scored only 3 in the third quarter.
The night for Harden was even worse. After averaging 23.6 points per game in the regular season, Harden had committed more turnovers (5) through three quarters than he had made field goals (2).
The pair did pick it up in the fourth to combine for 19 points, but playing from behind is a tough task against Detroit.
He was, arguably, the biggest reason why Cleveland topped the Toronto Raptors in Game 7 in the first round. Allen was a force Sunday, May 3, scoring 22 points and hauling in 19 rebounds, eight of which were offensive.
Tuesday night it was a different story. The Pistons went right at Allen in the first quarter, drawing three early fouls on him in the first 5:58 of the game. That took him out of the game completely, and he finished the night with just 2 points and 3 rebounds in 18:22 on the floor.
It’s bad enough that Luka Dončić (left hamstring strain) remains out and may miss the entire second round against the Thunder, but things got worse for Los Angeles.
Backup forward Jarred Vanderbilt suffered a right hand injury when his fingers swiped against the left side of the backboard as he attempted to block a shot. The NBC broadcast reported the injury was “gruesome” and indicated that Lakers trainers had to put a towel over it to conceal the injury. The Lakers ruled him out for the rest of the game.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Cavaliers vs Pistons, Lakers vs Thunder: Winners, losers in NBA today
