Cavaliers vs. Pistons Game 3 Live Score, Updates: Cavs Take Halftime Lead Thanks to Hot Shooting

Welcome to Sports Illustrated’s live blog of Game 3 between the Cavaliers and Pistons! Detroit holds a 2–0 lead after two strong victories to kick off this second-round matchup. The series moved back to Cleveland on Saturday and the home team will be doing everything in their power to avoid the dreaded 3–0 deficit that no NBA team has ever come back from in the postseason. Desperation will be thick in the air and that usually means the basketball will be great to watch.

Entering Game 3, there’s an enormous amount of pressure on James Harden to deliver. The longtime superstar has struggled all playoffs but hit rock bottom in the opening games against the Pistons this series. Improved play by him could be the difference the Cavs need to finally take one from their second-round opponents given the margin of defeat hasn’t been that big so far. On the other side, Detroit was clearly motivated by Round 1’s near-disaster to come out of the gates hot in this series; it’ll be interesting to see if Cade Cunningham & Co. can continue their momentum in front of what will undoubtedly be a roaring Cleveland crowd.

Pistons vs. Cavaliers Game 3 live updates

How we got here...

The Pistons were nearly sent home by the Magic in the first round but pulled off a big 3–1 comeback to beat Orlando in seven games. That experience seems to have lit a fire under the whole roster as Detroit came out firing against Cleveland in the second round. Despite a downturn in point production from Cunningham after he carried the offense against Orlando, the Pistons have found consistent ways to generate buckets against a Cavaliers defense that features a former DPOY in Evan Mobley.

But the most important work has come on the defensive side of the ball, where Detroit’s cadre of sticky defenders have made life miserable for Donovan Mitchell and Harden. The pair of elite scorers are combining to average 43 points per night on 41% shooting from the floor, with most of the output coming from Mitchell. Unless Mobley or Jarrett Allen put up unusually strong offensive numbers the Cavs really need their star backcourt to get buckets in great quantity and at efficient levels. So far they’ve failed. The two superstars need to step up. But more than anything the Cavaliers haven’t figured out how to stop the Pistons’ offense the same way the Magic did and unless they do that there isn’t much hope.

A loss today would mean there is no hope at all, based on many years of NBA playoff history. A lot rides on this Game 3.

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