CLEVELAND – For the second time in the 2026 NBA playoffs, the Detroit Pistons won a Game 6 on the road to stay alive.

Now we’ll see if they can take home another Game 7 on Sunday when they host the Cleveland Cavaliers with a chance to advance to their first Eastern Conference finals since 2008.

MVP candidate Cade Cunningham scored 21, Jalen Duren returned to the series with 15  points and 11 rebounds, and Paul Reed added 17 points off the bench in Detroit’s 115-94 win over Cleveland in Game 6 of this Eastern Conference semifinal. Daniss Jenkins, starting his second consecutive game in this series, added 15 points for Detroit.

The winner of Game 7 Sunday in Detroit (which will either be at 5 p.m. or 8 p.m., depending on what happens in Game 6 of the Spurs-Timberwolves series Friday), will play the New York Knicks in Game 1 of the conference finals on Tuesday.

This game was nothing like Detroit’s previous Game 6, when the Pistons overcame a 24-point deficit in the third quarter at Orlando to avoid elimination in the first round. The Pistons held leads at the end of each period on Friday in Cleveland against a Cavs team that had not lost at home in the 2026 playoffs and was 19-3 at Rocket Arena since Jan. 23, the best home record in the NBA since that date.

Cleveland, which is still trying to reach its first conference finals without LeBron James since 1992, was led by James Harden’s 23 points. Donovan Mitchell, who is 0-for-8 in getting past the second round in his career, shot 6-of-20 and scored 18 points.

The Cavs run the risk of losing in the second round for the third consecutive season, this time with the NBA’s highest payroll ($229 million before tax penalties are counted), and also this time against their former coach, J.B. Bickerstaff, who lost a locker room full of many of the same players still wearing those Cavs jerseys.

With 8:04 left in the second quarter, Detroit’s Ausar Thompson shoved Cleveland’s Sam Merrill to the ground and the stepped over him. After a video replay, lead referee Zach Zarba said Thompson’s left arm extended to Merrill’s head and neck area and “there was follow through.” Thompson was assessed a Flagrant Foul 1, which meant he could stay in the game (he would foul out with 3:56 left in the game and the Pistons ahead by 15).

Replays on Cleveland’s scoreboard showed Thompson grab Merrill by the neck and shove him to the deck. Fans went bonkers and chanted “throw him out,” to no avail. The Cavs were down 12 at the time of the foul, and later closed the half on a 7-0 run to cut Detroit’s lead to 54-51 at halftime.

The Pistons are trying to become just the second No. 1 seed in the last 10 years to reach the NBA Finals out of the East. The other team to do it was the 2024 Boston Celtics, who won the title that season. — Joe Vardon

Pistons’ bench comes up big

Detroit’s bench made its biggest impact of the series when the team needed them most. Guard Marcus Sasser was a game-high plus-27. Duncan Robinson, who came off the bench for the first time this season due to low back soreness, had four triples en route to 14 points and helped space the floor in his minutes. Paul Reed provided his usual spark with 17 points and six rebounds.

Duren coming alive was equally important. The big man looked far more engaged on both ends of the floor than he has all series. He blocked a game-high three shots and consistently looked to get downhill in dribble-handoff actions, which he hadn’t done during this series. With about six minutes left in the third quarter, Duren, who had been struggling all playoffs, was tangled up with Harden near Detroit’s basket and went down, grabbing his left ankle. He left the game and briefly went to the locker room, but returned to the court in the fourth quarter.

The Pistons have thrived in adverse situations all throughout the postseason. There’s something about having its back against the wall that brings out the best in this team, and tonight was just the latest example. The Pistons will have their second Game 7 on their floor, hoping for the same outcome as the first round against the Orlando Magic.  — Hunter Patterson

Mitchell disappears

What has happened to Donovan Mitchell? If he isn’t fighting some sort of injury, it’s hard to explain his performance in this series.

Mitchell was dreadful Friday in his first chance at making a conference final, but it’s deeper than just Game 6. He was terrific in the second half of Game 4, but otherwise is shooting 42 percent in this series and 26 percent from 3.

The Pistons have outshot the Cavs from 3 twice in this series, including Friday night, which seemed unthinkable before these conference semifinals began. It’s no surprise Detroit won both of those games. Mitchell’s struggles from 3 are a large reason why.

Detroit’s best shot in this series was always winning on the offensive glass and forcing turnovers that led to easy baskets. Sure enough, the Cavs turned it over 20 more times in Game 6, leading to 30 Pistons’ points.

Give the Pistons credit. They’re 4-0 now in these playoffs when facing elimination. The Cavs will be forced to play the full seven games for the second straight series. Despite some of their issues, overall this has been a terrific, evenly matched series. — Jason Lloyd

So did the Cavs’ bigs

Mitchell and Harden draw so much of the criticism and conversation in Cleveland, but Allen and Mobley have to find a way to outplay the Pistons’ bigs if the Cavaliers want to get to the Eastern Conference finals.

In Game 6, Duren and Reed (32 points, 17 rebounds in 43 combined minutes) outperformed Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley (31 points, 14 rebounds in 66 combined minutes). That simply can’t happen if the Cavaliers want to win Game 7 on Sunday in Detroit.

For the first time this series, Duren was aggressive and effective. He got himself involved early by getting on the offensive glass, but then attacked with confidence off the bounce in the second half. The Cavaliers’ big men were unable to match his energy.

When Duren was off the floor, Reed gave the Cavaliers fits in a small alignment that Cleveland has struggled to defend most of this series. Reed was 7-of-9 from the field and finished the game with 17 points and six rebounds.

Allen almost singlehandedly led the Cavaliers to a victory in Game 7 of their first-round series against the Toronto Raptors with an unbelievable third quarter performance. He will need to find a way to make an impact like that again on Sunday. Mobley has had a couple strong games in this series but will need to be better on Sunday as well. — Eric Nehm

SAN FRANCISCO — Steve Kerr wanted to make one thing abundantly clear as he began the news conference to announce the two-year contract extension he agreed to earlier this week to remain the Golden State Warriors’ head coach. The smile on his face and the ease with which he walked into the room high atop Chase Center Friday afternoon spoke just as much as the words that came out of his mouth.

“I’m thrilled to be back,” Kerr said. “I couldn’t be more excited to continue on this job.”

The 60-year-old Kerr acknowledged what has been well-documented since he shared a hug with stalwarts Steph Curry and Draymond Green at the end of the Warriors’ season-ending Play-In Tournament loss to the Phoenix Suns on April 17: There was a chance his run with the Warriors had ended. While Kerr had many conversations with Warriors owner Joe Lacob and general manager Mike Dunleavy over the last few weeks, he said his wife, Margot, ultimately made him realize he didn’t want to leave what he had built.

“She said you might coach again someday, but you’ll never coach the Warriors again,” Kerr said. “And that was really meaningful to me, because I love this team, I love our players, and that struck me. You know, I couldn’t imagine walking away from the Warriors. At that point, it was really, you know, what do (Lacob and Dunleavy) want to do? We had great meetings. Over the course of about a week, we all agreed, let’s do it.”

While Kerr remains happy to continue coaching Curry, he was also critical of his own performance during the Warriors’ 37-45 season.

“I know I have to be better,” Kerr said. “I didn’t have a great coaching year this year. I know there are a lot of things I can do better.”

Specifically, Kerr and Dunleavy continued to hammer home the importance of ball security. Turnovers have plagued the Warriors for years — they ranked 26th in the NBA in turnover percentage last season and have only ranked in the top half of the league twice in Kerr’s 12 seasons.

“We got a little too loose,” Kerr said. “Obviously, literally loose with the ball. But I think we, because of our age, because of our injuries, we spent a lot of time kind of resting, and I got to tighten the ship up next year.”

Dunleavy said last season was “pretty underwhelming” and was derailed by a variety of injuries, some of which (Jimmy Butler’s torn ACL and Moses Moody’s ruptured patellar tendon) will spill over into next season. Friday’s news conference was the first time a key member of the Warriors’ hierarchy acknowledged the team would not walk into next season with clear-cut aspirations of contending for a championship, though Dunleavy said his hope is still to have a chance to make a postseason push once the entire roster is healthy.

“I don’t think (Lacob) would mind if I shared this,” Kerr said. “But we were talking about our injuries and how this is the first time where we can’t realistically just say, ‘Hey, let’s win a title next year, you know?’ He just said, ‘I’m the owner, and I can’t help but just say I expect to be in the playoffs every year and have a shot.’ Frankly, that’s one of the reasons why we have done that is because of his vision and his passion.”

So what does success look like next season?

“I think it looks like recommitting to our values and our process,” Kerr said. “I think the last couple of years, frankly, have been difficult with the age, the collective age, of our team, the injuries. I think we had, like, six guys this year who either couldn’t play back-to-backs or were on minutes restrictions — often at the same time.

“I think I really, frankly, gave everyone too much leeway this year. It just felt like we were constantly resting everybody and just trying to survive to the next game and have enough healthy bodies. … I think we lost some of our discipline, and we got a little loose. And that’s my job.”

Dunleavy said there were nights he went to sleep thinking Kerr wouldn’t be back, and he said Kerr probably felt the same way. In the end, the Warriors’ triumvirate of Kerr, Dunleavy and Lacob decided they were better together than they would be apart. After multiple conversations over the last few weeks, both Kerr and Dunleavy sounded unified in their messaging and on the same page with Lacob.

“I think this year was such an obvious inflection point for the franchise,” Kerr said. “It’s why we deliberated. It’s why we really gave it a lot of thought. I think, as I said, we came to a really clear path of, let’s really recommit to this group and how we’re operating and what we’re trying to do, and make sure our foundation is strong, and that it’s setting up whatever is next. Because we have to be looking forward. I can’t predict any of that.”

Kerr said he doesn’t want to stay too long. His goal is to leave the Warriors in a good place whenever the time comes for him to walk away. But his answers Friday and his day-to-day approach this past season show he still has a passion for the job and is not feeling burnt out.

“I’m happiest when I’m on the court with my players,” Kerr said. “When I’m collaborating with Mike and the organization. I love this. Even through the struggles this year, I love the struggle. I love the challenge.”