Why Donovan Mitchell, James Harden believe Cavs are ready to upset Pistons

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Why Donovan Mitchell, James Harden believe Cavs are ready to upset Pistons

Spencer Davies, ClutchPoints · ClutchPoints

Tue, May 5, 2026 ·

6 min read

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After a physical, demanding series with the Toronto Raptors , Cleveland Cavaliers stars Donovan Mitchell and James Harden are confident that their team is prepared for the Detroit Pistons in the NBA playoffs. It is a Central Division rival that earned the Eastern Conference’s top seed and split the season series with the Cavs, who feel they’re better equipped for the next round.

“We know we’re facing Detroit, a really, really good defensive team,” James Harden said after Game 7 on Sunday. “We just played against a really, really, really good defensive team that switched and had different schemes defensively. So I think that really prepared us for Detroit. Watch some film, quick turnaround, and be ready to play.”

“A lot of similarities, physicality,” Cleveland head coach Kenny Atkinson added. “We’re going to have to be mentally and physically tough to beat this team. To me, No. 1 seed, they’ve had a great year. They’re the favorites. We go in there as underdogs, which is a challenge. But I think it’s going to be a similar series, being able to handle their pressure, their rebounding, their force, their physicality. So hopefully this series prepared us for that.”

The Cavs and Pistons last clashed at Rocket Arena on March 3, with the Wine and Gold coming out on top 113-109. They did not have Mitchell, Max Strus , or Dean Wade available for that game, and Jarrett Allen missed almost the entire second half. Collectively, the group held Cade Cunningham to 10 points on 4-of-16 from the field, although he had 14 assists. Only Jalen Duren cleared the 20-point mark on his squad, and he had half of those points on the free-throw line.

“They’re a different team,” Harden said. “I’m sure they put some different wrinkles in and [are] different offensively, different sets. [They’re] probably, defensively, doing some different coverages and things like that. I’m not sure if we played them with a full roster, but it doesn’t really matter. After Game 1, they’re going to make adjustments, we’re going to make adjustments. They’re going to switch and do different things.

“It’s just all of it is a game within the game within that series. So, regular season, it doesn’t matter. You know what I mean? So I think for us, it’s just figuring out what we want to do and what we want to accomplish [on] both ends of the ball and execute. And if we do that, we have a chance.”

One week prior, Detroit edged out Cleveland in overtime at Little Caesars Arena, 122-119. Both Harden and Mitchell were unavailable, and Isaiah Stewart was still serving his suspension for an altercation in Charlotte. The Cavs leaned heavily on the starting five, while Craig Porter Jr. dished out 12 dimes from the bench, and the young guys played a huge role. The Pistons rallied from a six-point deficit with 1:56 left in regulation, forcing two huge turnovers and drawing a three-point foul. Daniss Jenkins knocked in each free throw to send the game into OT, and their defense handled the rest.

“I mean, they’ve been phenomenal,” Mitchell said Sunday. “[J.B. Bickerstaff] has done a phenomenal job over there all year. They’re tough. They’re physical. They got Cade, who’s the head of the snake. They got Duncan [Robinson], who can get off screens, and Kevin Huerter . They’ve got a lot of defenders. They’ve got Duren. They’ve got Stewart. They’re tough. It’s going to be a tall task, just like this one was. We’ve got a lot of respect for those guys and got to go out there and find a way to get one on the road.”

“We know what we’re facing,” Harden added. “They’re a really good team. They got Cade, who’s the head of the snake, who’s playing well. Tobias Harris is playing extremely well, so we’ve got another handful… Take it one game at a time.”

Unlike the last one, and for the first time in four series, the Cavs will be starting on the road for this matchup. Unfortunately, being away from home has not been kind to them, as they have lost 11 of their last 15 postseason games in such situations. Mitchell isn’t thinking of that heading into Detroit.

“You’ve just got to find a way,” Mitchell said. “If you kind of label it as that, it’s like this huge obstacle, right? Got to go out there and execute. Neither team has had a lot of time to prep for each other, but we had the regular season, and at the end of the day, we’ve got to go steal one. Simple as that. I’m not worried about what’s happened in the past. This [Toronto] series is over with. We’re moving on to the next one.

“At the end of the day, we’ve just got to go get one . Because if we win, guess what, we’ll be like 5-11. It’s still not going to be a good record, you know what I’m saying? It’s not like we’re going to get all seven wins back right now. So it doesn’t really matter. We’ve got to find a way to win on the road and just go from there.”

Can the Cavs keep guarding Cade Cunningham well in the NBA playoffs?

This season, the Cavs have held Cunningham in check compared to their peers. Among the 27 teams he faced this year, he averaged his fifth-worst scoring output (18.5), second-lowest field-goal percentage (34.2%), and fouled the most.

While it’s wise to take these stats with a small grain of salt because the Boston Celtics and Milwaukee Bucks are the only other teams he took on four times, and De’Andre Hunter is in Sacramento now, Cunningham is a net minus-10 against Cleveland.

Clearly, there’s a plan of attack that Atkinson and Co. have up their sleeve to limit the talented MVP candidate. Tyson has spent 13:52 guarding him, the fourth-most out of any player Cunningham has seen. Only Davion Mitchell , Stephon Castle , and Dyson Daniels have defended him longer.

Atkinson trusts Sam Merrill to hold up, too, and Porter may find his way into this series because of his familiarity with the assignment. Dennis Schroder was his teammate last year, so that could help with some intel as well.

We all know how different things go in the playoffs, and the degree to which this matters remains to be seen, but it always helps to have a scouting report.

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