Game ID: 42500205
Cleveland Cavaliers @ Detroit Pistons
Wednesday, May 13, 2026 at 8:00 PM ET
Little Caesars Arena, Detroit, MI
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 OT1 Final
DET 29 31 20 23 10 113CLE 27 25 32 19 14 117
CLE @ DET ScoutingCLE @ DET Scouting
Welcome to the scouting desk. The coffee is cold, the film is play-by-play, and somebody has to explain what happened.
Every game has a hinge — a stretch where it was decided, usually while everyone was watching something else. Start where the evidence lives: the Lineups' face-offs say which five actually won their minutes; the Possessions ledger says who ran ahead of the night's own pace; the Shot Chart says where the points really came from, which is rarely where the highlights were. When all three agree, that is the story. When they don't — that is why this desk has a chair.
DET availability going into 5/05 · 1 day's restOUT Huerter missed 3 since 4/29, out tonight
BACK Holland II back 5/03 after 4, 1 min since (6% of 18)
BACK Reed back 5/01 after 2, 6 min since (48% of 13)
BACK Sasser back 5/03 after 4, 1 min since (10% of 12)
NEW Cunningham 35 to 41 min over the last 5
NEW Harris 29 to 36 min over the last 5
NEW Thompson 27 to 35 min over the last 5
DET availability going into 5/07 · 1 day's restOUT Huerter missed 4 since 4/29, out tonight
BACK Holland II back 5/03 after 4, 6 min since (30% of 18)
BACK Reed back 5/01 after 2, 6 min since (48% of 13)
BACK Sasser back 5/03 after 4, 1 min since (10% of 12)
NEW Cunningham 35 to 41 min over the last 5
NEW Harris 29 to 36 min over the last 5
NEW Thompson 27 to 34 min over the last 5
DET availability going into 5/09 · 1 day's restOUT Huerter missed 5 since 4/29, out tonight
OUT Reed missed 2 since 5/05, returns tonight: 10 min (74% of 13)
OUT Sasser missed 2 since 5/05, out tonight
BACK Holland II back 5/03 after 4, 7 min since (37% of 18)
NEW Cunningham 35 to 42 min over the last 5
NEW Harris 29 to 36 min over the last 5
NEW Thompson 27 to 33 min over the last 5
DET availability going into 5/11 · 1 day's restOUT Huerter missed 6 since 4/29, out tonight
OUT Sasser missed 3 since 5/05, returns tonight: 3 min (24% of 12)
BACK Holland II back 5/03 after 4, 6 min since (33% of 18)
BACK Reed back 5/01 after 2, 8 min since (57% of 13)
NEW Cunningham 35 to 41 min over the last 5
NEW Harris 29 to 38 min over the last 5
NEW Robinson 28 to 35 min over the last 5
DET availability going into 5/13 · 1 day's restOUT Huerter missed 7 since 4/29, returns tonight: 3 min (18% of 19)
BACK Holland II back 5/03 after 4, 6 min since (34% of 18)
BACK Reed back 5/09 after 2, 12 min since (89% of 13)
BACK Sasser back 5/03 after 4, 2 min since (17% of 12)
NEW Cunningham 35 to 40 min over the last 5
NEW Harris 29 to 37 min over the last 5
NEW Robinson 28 to 33 min over the last 5
DET availability going into 5/15 · 1 day's restBACK Huerter back 5/13 after 7, 3 min since (18% of 19)
BACK Reed back 5/09 after 2, 14 min since (102% of 13)
BACK Sasser back 5/11 after 3, 9 min since (78% of 12)
NEW Cunningham 35 to 42 min over the last 5
NEW Harris 29 to 38 min over the last 5
NEW Jenkins 21 to 27 min over the last 5
DET availability going into 5/17 · 1 day's restOUT Green missed 2 since 5/13, out tonight
BACK Huerter back 5/13 after 7, 3 min since (18% of 19)
BACK Reed back 5/09 after 2, 14 min since (107% of 13)
BACK Sasser back 5/11 after 3, 12 min since (103% of 12)
NEW Cunningham 35 to 42 min over the last 5
NEW Harris 29 to 35 min over the last 5
NEW Jenkins 21 to 27 min over the last 5
CLE availability going into 5/05 · 1 day's restOUT Ellis missed 3 since 4/29, returns tonight: 11 min (55% of 20)
OUT Porter Jr. missed 4 since 4/26, out tonight
OUT Tomlin missed 4 since 4/26, out tonight
OUT Nance Jr. missed 4 since 4/26, out tonight
OUT Proctor missed 4 since 4/26, out tonight
BACK Bryant back 4/23 after 6, 5 min since (44% of 11)
CLE availability going into 5/07 · 1 day's restOUT Porter Jr. missed 5 since 4/26, out tonight
OUT Tomlin missed 5 since 4/26, out tonight
OUT Nance Jr. missed 5 since 4/26, out tonight
OUT Proctor missed 5 since 4/26, out tonight
BACK Ellis back 5/05 after 3, 11 min since (55% of 20)
CLE availability going into 5/09 · 1 day's restOUT Porter Jr. missed 6 since 4/26, out tonight
OUT Tomlin missed 6 since 4/26, out tonight
OUT Nance Jr. missed 6 since 4/26, out tonight
OUT Proctor missed 6 since 4/26, out tonight
BACK Ellis back 5/05 after 3, 8 min since (42% of 20)
CLE availability going into 5/11 · 1 day's restOUT Porter Jr. missed 7 since 4/26, returns tonight: 0 min (2% of 16)
OUT Tomlin missed 7 since 4/26, returns tonight: 0 min (2% of 14)
OUT Nance Jr. missed 7 since 4/26, out tonight
OUT Bryant missed 2 since 5/07, returns tonight: 0 min (3% of 11)
OUT Proctor missed 7 since 4/26, returns tonight: 0 min (3% of 10)
BACK Ellis back 5/05 after 3, 8 min since (42% of 20)
CLE availability going into 5/13 · 1 day's restOUT Nance Jr. missed 8 since 4/26, out tonight
BACK Ellis back 5/05 after 3, 6 min since (29% of 20)
BACK Porter Jr. back 5/11 after 7, 0 min since (2% of 16)
BACK Tomlin back 5/11 after 7, 0 min since (2% of 14)
BACK Bryant back 5/11 after 2, 0 min since (3% of 11)
BACK Proctor back 5/11 after 7, 0 min since (3% of 10)
CLE availability going into 5/15 · 1 day's restOUT Nance Jr. missed 9 since 4/26, out tonight
BACK Ellis back 5/05 after 3, 6 min since (29% of 20)
BACK Porter Jr. back 5/11 after 7, 0 min since (2% of 16)
BACK Tomlin back 5/11 after 7, 0 min since (2% of 14)
BACK Bryant back 5/11 after 2, 0 min since (3% of 11)
BACK Proctor back 5/11 after 7, 0 min since (3% of 10)
NEW Mobley 33 to 38 min over the last 5
CLE availability going into 5/17 · 1 day's restOUT Nance Jr. missed 10 since 4/26, out tonight
OUT Proctor missed 2 since 5/13, out tonight
BACK Porter Jr. back 5/11 after 7, 1 min since (8% of 16)
BACK Tomlin back 5/11 after 7, 1 min since (9% of 14)
BACK Bryant back 5/11 after 2, 1 min since (12% of 11)
NEW Mobley 33 to 38 min over the last 5
CLE availability going into 5/19 · 1 day's restOUT Nance Jr. missed 11 since 4/26, out tonight
OUT Proctor missed 3 since 5/13, out tonight
BACK Porter Jr. back 5/11 after 7, 2 min since (14% of 16)
BACK Tomlin back 5/11 after 7, 2 min since (16% of 14)
BACK Bryant back 5/11 after 2, 2 min since (20% of 11)
NEW Mobley 33 to 38 min over the last 5
CLE availability going into 5/21 · 1 day's restOUT Nance Jr. missed 12 since 4/26, out tonight
OUT Proctor missed 4 since 5/13, returns tonight: 1 min (12% of 10)
BACK Porter Jr. back 5/11 after 7, 2 min since (14% of 16)
BACK Tomlin back 5/11 after 7, 2 min since (16% of 14)
BACK Bryant back 5/11 after 2, 2 min since (20% of 11)
NEW Mobley 33 to 39 min over the last 5
I Know — the desk, before tip-off
Written before tip-off, from the five games each side brought in.
Detroit comes in 3-2 over its last five, scoring 109 a night and allowing 104, shooting 48 percent and 44 from three, 22 free throws a game; Cunningham at 25 and Harris at 22 a game. It has won the glass by 5 a night. Without Huerter (7 straight). One day's rest. Cleveland comes in 3-2 over its last five, scoring 108 a night and allowing 106, shooting 46 percent and 32 from three, 28 free throws a game; Mitchell at 31 and Harden at 19 a game. One day's rest.
So: Detroit wins, and the game turns on the arc, Detroit at 44 percent from three to Cleveland's 32 and the line, where Cleveland takes 28 free throws a game to Detroit's 22. Call it Detroit 113, Cleveland 108.
5/05 vs CLE 111-101 — DET notes
DET won 111-101. DET shot 44% (37 of 84) to CLE's 45%, 10 of 26 from three, and went to the line 35 times to CLE's 16 — 27 points from the stripe to their 15. DET turned it over 11 times to CLE's 19. Cunningham led with 23 (6 of 19, 2 of 5 from three, 9 of 11 at the line); Harris added 20, Robinson 19. The hinge was Q1, 37-21: from level to 16 ahead. Duren was the night's best plus/minus at +17.
5/07 vs CLE 107-97 — DET notes
DET won 107-97. DET shot 49% (39 of 80) to CLE's 42%, 14 of 28 from three, and got to the line 20 times to CLE's 27. Cunningham led with 25 (7 of 14, 3 of 6 from three, 8 of 8 at the line); Harris added 21, Robinson 17. The hinge was Q1, 25-18: from level to 7 ahead. Cunningham was the night's best plus/minus at +13.
5/09 @ CLE 109-116 — DET notes
DET lost 109-116. DET took 17 more shots (91 to 74), fed by 17 offensive rebounds, but shot 45% to CLE's 58%, 9 of 25 from three, and got to the line 22 times to CLE's 28. Cunningham led with 27 (10 of 27, 2 of 6 from three, 5 of 6 at the line); Harris added 21, Robinson 15. Q3 was theirs, 33-19, the deficit cut from 16 to 2, but the other 3 periods went 97-76 against them. Jenkins's -28 in 18 minutes was the worst on the floor.
5/11 @ CLE 103-112 — DET notes
DET lost 103-112. DET shot 51% (42 of 83) to CLE's 44%, 10 of 23 from three, and got to the line just 12 times against 27 fouls committed. DET turned it over 18 times to CLE's 13, and CLE turned those into 11 steals. LeVert led with 24 (10 of 16, 3 of 6 from three); Cunningham added 19, Harris 16. Q4 was theirs, 26-22, the deficit cut from 13 to 9, but the other 3 periods went 90-77 against them. Thompson's -27 in 19 minutes was the worst on the floor.
5/13 vs CLE 113-117 — DET notes
DET lost 113-117 in 1 overtime. DET took 15 more shots (95 to 80), fed by 15 offensive rebounds, but shot 44% to CLE's 45%, 11 of 33 from three, and got to the line 20 times to CLE's 38. DET turned it over 10 times to CLE's 16. Cunningham led with 39 (13 of 27, 6 of 10 from three, 7 of 8 at the line); Jenkins added 19, Harris 13. Q2 was theirs, 31-25, but the other 4 periods went 92-82 against them. They led by as many as 15. Duren's -16 in 25 minutes was the worst on the floor.
5/15 @ CLE — I Know, the desk before tip-off
Written before tip-off, from the five games each side brought in.
Cleveland comes in 3-2 over its last five, scoring 109 a night and allowing 109, shooting 47 percent and 34 from three, 29 free throws a game; Mitchell at 31 and Harden at 21 a game. That is 3 straight wins. One day's rest. Detroit comes in 2-3 over its last five, scoring 109 a night and allowing 109, shooting 46 percent and 40 from three, 22 free throws a game; Cunningham at 27 and Harris at 18 a game. That is 3 straight losses. One day's rest.
So: Cleveland wins, and the game turns on the glass, where Detroit has been plus-3 a night and Cleveland minus-3 and the arc, Detroit at 40 percent from three to Cleveland's 34. Call it Cleveland 112, Detroit 111, Detroit keeping it close.
5/17 vs CLE — I Know, the desk before tip-off
Written before tip-off, from the five games each side brought in.
Detroit comes in 2-3 over its last five, scoring 109 a night and allowing 107, shooting 48 percent and 41 from three, 19 free throws a game; Cunningham at 26 and Harris at 15 a game. Without Green (2 straight). One day's rest. Cleveland comes in 3-2 over its last five, scoring 107 a night and allowing 109, shooting 45 percent and 34 from three, 31 free throws a game; Mitchell at 30 and Harden at 21 a game. One day's rest.
So: Detroit wins, and the game turns on the line, where Cleveland takes 31 free throws a game to Detroit's 19 and the arc, Detroit at 41 percent from three to Cleveland's 34. Call it Detroit 114, Cleveland 109.
5/05 @ DET 101-111 — CLE notes
CLE lost 101-111. CLE shot 45% (36 of 80) to DET's 44%, 14 of 38 from three, and got to the line 16 times to DET's 35. CLE turned it over 19 times to DET's 11, and DET turned those into 12 steals. Mitchell led with 23 (9 of 19, 4 of 10 from three); Harden added 22, Strus 19. Q3 was theirs, 30-24, the deficit cut from 13 to 7, but the other 3 periods went 87-71 against them. Mobley's -18 in 35 minutes was the worst on the floor.
5/07 @ DET 97-107 — CLE notes
CLE lost 97-107. CLE shot 42% (34 of 81) to DET's 49%, 7 of 32 from three, and went to the line 27 times to DET's 20 — 22 points from the stripe to their 15. Mitchell led with 31 (11 of 24, 2 of 9 from three, 7 of 9 at the line); Allen added 22, Harden 10. Q3 was theirs, 32-25, the deficit cut from 11 to 4, but the other 3 periods went 82-65 against them. Harden's -15 in 37 minutes was the worst on the floor.
5/09 vs DET 116-109 — CLE notes
CLE won 116-109. CLE shot 58% (43 of 74) to DET's 45%, 12 of 32 from three, and went to the line 28 times to DET's 22 — 18 points from the stripe to their 18. Mitchell led with 35 (13 of 24, 2 of 8 from three, 7 of 8 at the line); Harden added 19, Allen 18. The hinge was Q2, 32-18: a lead of 2 became 16.
5/11 vs DET 112-103 — CLE notes
CLE won 112-103. CLE shot 44% (34 of 78) to DET's 51%, 14 of 41 from three, and went to the line 34 times to DET's 12 — 30 points from the stripe to their 9. CLE turned it over 13 times to DET's 18. Mitchell led with 43 (13 of 26, 4 of 12 from three, 13 of 15 at the line); Harden added 24, Mobley 17. The hinge was Q3, 38-21: CLE came in trailing by 4 and left it ahead by 13, and the lead reached 21. CLE trailed 52-56 at the half and won the second half 60-47. Mobley was the night's best plus/minus at +30.
5/13 @ DET 117-113 — CLE notes
CLE won 117-113 in 1 overtime. CLE shot 45% (36 of 80) to DET's 44%, 14 of 35 from three, and went to the line 38 times to DET's 20 — 31 points from the stripe to their 18. CLE turned it over 16 times to DET's 10, and DET turned those into 10 steals. Harden led with 30 (8 of 21, 3 of 10 from three, 11 of 14 at the line); Mitchell added 21, Strus 20. The hinge was Q3, 32-20: CLE came in trailing by 8 and left it ahead by 4. CLE trailed 52-60 at the half and won the second half 65-53. Allen was the night's best plus/minus at +14.
5/15 vs DET — I Know, the desk before tip-off
Written before tip-off, from the five games each side brought in.
Cleveland comes in 3-2 over its last five, scoring 109 a night and allowing 109, shooting 47 percent and 34 from three, 29 free throws a game; Mitchell at 31 and Harden at 21 a game. That is 3 straight wins. One day's rest. Detroit comes in 2-3 over its last five, scoring 109 a night and allowing 109, shooting 46 percent and 40 from three, 22 free throws a game; Cunningham at 27 and Harris at 18 a game. That is 3 straight losses. One day's rest.
So: Cleveland wins, and the game turns on the glass, where Detroit has been plus-3 a night and Cleveland minus-3 and the arc, Detroit at 40 percent from three to Cleveland's 34. Call it Cleveland 112, Detroit 111, Detroit keeping it close.
5/17 @ DET — I Know, the desk before tip-off
Written before tip-off, from the five games each side brought in.
Detroit comes in 2-3 over its last five, scoring 109 a night and allowing 107, shooting 48 percent and 41 from three, 19 free throws a game; Cunningham at 26 and Harris at 15 a game. Without Green (2 straight). One day's rest. Cleveland comes in 3-2 over its last five, scoring 107 a night and allowing 109, shooting 45 percent and 34 from three, 31 free throws a game; Mitchell at 30 and Harden at 21 a game. One day's rest.
So: Detroit wins, and the game turns on the line, where Cleveland takes 31 free throws a game to Detroit's 19 and the arc, Detroit at 41 percent from three to Cleveland's 34. Call it Detroit 114, Cleveland 109.
5/19 @ NYK — I Know, the desk before tip-off
Written before tip-off, from the five games each side brought in.
New York comes in 5-0 over its last five, scoring 127 a night and allowing 99, shooting 55 percent and 43 from three, 27 free throws a game; Brunson at 27 and Anunoby at 24 a game. That is 5 straight wins. It has won the glass by 11 a night. Without Anunoby (2 straight). 8 days' rest. Cleveland comes in 4-1 over its last five, scoring 113 a night and allowing 107, shooting 47 percent and 36 from three, 35 free throws a game; Mitchell at 29 and Harden at 21 a game. One day's rest.
So: New York wins, and the game turns on the glass, where New York has been plus-11 a night and Cleveland plus-0 and the arc, New York at 43 percent from three to Cleveland's 36. Call it New York 118, Cleveland 108, New York by 10.
5/21 @ NYK — I Know, the desk before tip-off
Written before tip-off, from the five games each side brought in.
New York comes in 5-0 over its last five, scoring 122 a night and allowing 102, shooting 53 percent and 42 from three, 27 free throws a game; Brunson at 31 and Anunoby at 18 a game. That is 5 straight wins. It has won the glass by 10 a night. One day's rest. Cleveland comes in 3-2 over its last five, scoring 110 a night and allowing 108, shooting 44 percent and 34 from three, 34 free throws a game; Mitchell at 27 and Harden at 20 a game. One day's rest.
So: New York wins, and the game turns on the glass, where New York has been plus-10 a night and Cleveland minus-0 and the arc, New York at 42 percent from three to Cleveland's 34. Call it New York 117, Cleveland 108.
Who is who
the initials in the Players column
DETAT A. Thompson
CC C. Cunningham
CL C. LeVert
DJ D. Jenkins
IS I. Stewart
JD J. Duren
KH K. Huerter
MS M. Sasser
PR P. Reed
TH T. Harris
CLEDM D. Mitchell
DS D. Schröder
DW D. Wade
EM E. Mobley
JA J. Allen
JH J. Harden
JT J. Tyson
MS M. Strus
SM S. Merrill
SC Schroder
DET/CLE the team itself, not a player
-- the feed named nobody
What
What happened
the codes in the Events column
M2 / M3 made 2 / made 3
X2 / X3 missed 2 / missed 3
FT / X1 free throw made / missed
AST assist
OR / DR offensive / defensive rebound
STL steal
BLK block
TO turnover
FL foul
OF offensive foul — ends the possession
VIOL violation
JUMP jump ball
TM timeout
IR instant replay
HE heave at the buzzer, filed to the team
END the clock ran out, ball in hand
Where
Where a shot came from
the middle field of M3.LW.25
RM at the rim inside 4 ft
RC right corner
RW right wing
SO straight on
LW left wing
LC left corner
M3.LW.25 made 3, left wing, 25 ft
X2.RM.01 missed 2, at the rim, 1 ft
When
When it happened
the Offset column
one number per event, in the Events order:
whole seconds from the start of the
possession to that event
Events FL X3.RC.23 OR M2.RM.01
Offset 0 18 22 24
the foul opens the possession at 0s;
the putback ends it at 24s, which is
the possession's own Dur
James Harden scores 30 and Cavaliers rally past Pistons 117-113 in OT for 3-2 series lead
DETROIT -- — James Harden scored a playoff-best 30 points and Donovan Mitchell had 21, helping the Cleveland Cavaliers come back from a nine-point deficit late in regulation and beat the Detroit Pistons 117-113 in overtime on Wednesday night to take a 3-2 lead in their Eastern Conference semifinal series.
The Pistons led by 15 points in the first half and 103-94 with two-plus minutes left. The Cavs rallied and pulled into a 103-all tie on Evan Mobley’s free throws with 45.2 seconds left.
“That stretch right there says a lot about our progress — mental performance progress and mental toughness progress,” Cavs coach Kenny Atkinson said.
Just before the buzzer, Cleveland's Jarrett Allen and Detroit's Ausar Thompson got tangled up and no call was made.
“He fouled Ausar — clearly,” Pistons coach J.B. Bickerstaff said. “He tripped him when he was going for a loose ball.”
Cleveland went on a 13-0 run and held Detroit scoreless for five minutes from late in fourth quarter to midway through overtime. The Cavs went ahead by seven with 2:39 left in OT on Mitchell's 3-pointer.
Cade Cunningham , who had 39 points and nine assists, made a jumper to pull the Pistons within two points with 25 seconds left.
Harden made one free throw on the ensuing possession and rebounded his missed second attempt. He made another free throw to help seal the win.
Game 6 is Friday night in Cleveland, where the fourth-seeded Cavs will get the first of two chances to advance to face the New York Knicks in the East finals.
If the top-seeded Pistons win, they will host Game 7 on Sunday.
Cleveland won the first road game of the series — and its first as a visitor this postseason.
The Pistons had won four straight games at home since Orlando put them on the brink of elimination in Game 5 of the first round.
Harden had eight rebounds and six assists. Max Strus made six 3-pointers and scored 20 points for the Cavs, Mobley added 19 points and Jarrett Allen had 16 points and 10 rebounds.
“It wasn’t our best night offensively, but I think that’s what speaks volumes to getting this win was we found a way” Strus said.
Starting in place of the injured Duncan Robinson , Daniss Jenkins scored 19 points for the Pistons. Tobias Harris missed 13 of 19 shots and scored 13 points, and Jalen Duren was limited to nine points and five rebounds.