James Harden leads Cavs to OT win on monumental night

One recreation faraway from driving Donovan Mitchell’s historic second-half performance to even the collection, the Cleveland Cavaliers put collectively one other big effort out of the half to finish a 117-113 additional time win over the Detroit Pistons on Wednesday.

Not solely does the comeback win give Cleveland the 3-2 collection lead, however it’s its first street win of the playoffs. Even when the Cavaliers trailed by as many as 15 and confronted a 60-52 halftime deficit, they didn’t panic. They outscored the Pistons, 32-20, within the third quarter and dedicated solely two turnovers throughout that stretch.

Midseason commerce acquisition James Harden was instrumental to Cleveland’s Sport 5 success on Wednesday, scoring a team-high 30 factors (8-of-21 FG) to associate with eight rebounds and 6 assists. Nevertheless, it was not simply his offensive manufacturing that stood out.

James Harden delivers for Cavaliers in pivotal Sport 5 win

By beginning Wednesday’s Sport 5, Harden moved to 15th on the all-time NBA postseason video games performed listing. Moreover, because the “Contained in the NBA” crew identified after the sport, Harden is the primary participant in league historical past with a 30-point playoff recreation for six completely different groups.

Very similar to the remainder of the collection and the playoffs for that matter, Harden struggled to find his shot, to not point out his continued struggles holding onto the ball with six turnovers. 

With that mentioned, he transformed 11 of his 14 free-throw makes an attempt, recorded three blocks and had the second-best plus/minus on the staff at +11. This rebound off a missed free throw was particularly clutch because it helped Cleveland preserve possession up three and shut the sport out within the closing seconds.