{"id":804798,"date":"2026-05-18T09:53:22","date_gmt":"2026-05-18T09:53:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/804798\/"},"modified":"2026-05-18T09:53:22","modified_gmt":"2026-05-18T09:53:22","slug":"winners-and-losers-cavs-vs-pistons-game-7-donovan-mitchell-owns-the-legacy-game","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/804798\/","title":{"rendered":"Winners and Losers: Cavs vs Pistons Game 7 – Donovan Mitchell owns the legacy game"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Cleveland Cavaliers<\/a> did it again, capping off a thrilling series by crushing their opponent in Game 7. Credit to the Detroit Pistons \u2014 but the Cavs are all winners tonight.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s go over today\u2019s winners.<\/p>\n

WINNER – Donovan Mitchell<\/p>\n

The best players in the league aren\u2019t immune to criticism \u2014 they respond to it.<\/p>\n

This game started with a good omen. Donovan Mitchell drove downhill twice in a row, using his gravity to draw multiple defenders before throwing a pair of dimes to Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen. In just a handful of minutes, Mitchell exceeded his assist total from the previous game and showed a \u2018pass first\u2019 mentality that hasn\u2019t been present throughout the postseason.<\/p>\n

Mitchell had 6 assists by halftime, already more than he\u2019d collected in any game this postseason. He\u2019s taken flak for his process in the playoffs. He hasn\u2019t always struck the correct balance between scoring and playmaking. That wasn\u2019t an issue tonight. He set the table throughout Game 7, and his teammates had a feast.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s value to hitting singles. Safe plays that get a runner on base and apply pressure on a defense can turn into runs. Mitchell took that approach tonight, giving up the ball early and trusting the offense to flow into a quality shot. That made all the difference.<\/p>\n

The Cavs had a comfortable lead going into halftime, but the game was far from over. We\u2019ve seen the Pistons claw back to avoid elimination four times already this postseason. I think Mitchell understood what was at stake \u2014 and promptly stepped on their throat to close it out. He erupted for 15 points in the third quarter, getting to the basket and making sure there\u2019d be no more resurrections.<\/p>\n

Mitchell entered this game with his legacy on the line, and left it with arguably the most sustainable version of a masterclass that we\u2019ve seen from him in the playoffs. Spida ends with 26 points, 8 assists, 6 rebounds, 1 steal, 1 block, and 0 turnovers.<\/p>\n

Detroit let the wrong one in.<\/p>\n

The Pistons had managed to avoid a full-on Sam Merrill invasion throughout the previous six games of this series. He\u2019d been kept in a box, unable to break free and do any significant damage from behind the arch. Detroit probably wishes that it could have remained true for one more game.<\/p>\n

Merrill started the game by burying his first three-pointer from the corner. A moment later, he drilled another one from the same spot. Add two more three\u2019s, including a four-point play, and Merrill had conjured a game-high 15 points in the first half on 4-6 three-point shooting.<\/p>\n

Sammy finished with 23 points.<\/p>\n

Take that, Ausar Thompson.<\/p>\n

Physicality? We got that. Toughness and mental resilience? Check. The Cavs bigs have taken your narratives, crumpled them up, and stuffed them into the trash over Jalen Duren\u2019s head<\/p>\n

Allen and Mobley aren\u2019t your typical bruising bigs. But the idea that they can\u2019t handle playoff physicality has been thoroughly debunked in two rounds. They bested an immensely physical Raptors team in the first round, then did it again to a Pistons team that prides itself on toughness.<\/p>\n

Cleveland\u2019s bigs set the tone immediately in Game 7, combining for 25 points, 10 rebounds, and 5 assists in the first half. If you remember, Allen had 22 points and 19 rebounds himself in Game 7 versus the Raptors. Dominating multiple games where the lights are brightest should earn Allen (and Mobley) a ton of goodwill moving forward.<\/p>\n

Allen finished tonight with 23 points and 7 rebounds. Mobley added 21 points, 12 rebounds, 6 assists, 2 steals and 2 blocks.<\/p>\n

Mobley racked up 20 stocks in the final four games of the series. Monster.<\/p>\n

Of course, all of that charitability can be erased quickly. This is a \u2018what have you done for me lately\u2019 type of business. But we\u2019d be mistaken not to congratulate the bigs for stepping up to the challenge multiple rounds in a row. The season would be over if it weren\u2019t for them.<\/p>\n

Mitchell Robinson provides the ultimate test on Tuesday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Cleveland Cavaliers did it again, capping off a thrilling series by crushing their opponent in Game 7.…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":804799,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[59345,51,50,52],"class_list":{"0":"post-804798","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-news","8":"tag-cavs-analysis","9":"tag-headlines","10":"tag-news","11":"tag-top-stories"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116594973548507564","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/804798","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=804798"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/804798\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/804799"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=804798"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=804798"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=804798"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}