The Cleveland Cavaliers had a chance to clinch its Eastern Conference Semifinals series against the Detroit Pistons on Friday night, but looked out of sorts throughout the contest, a 115-94 loss. The Cavs will need their lead guards, Donovan Mitchell and James Harden, to put everything together for the winner-take-all Game 7 on Sunday night.
Mitchell is well aware that they’ll have to play some of their best team ball and capitalize on what could it they’re in order to advance to the Eastern Conference Semifinals, where the New York Knicks await.
“Everything you want is on the other side of hard. Nothing good comes easy,” he said in his post-game presser. “You know what I mean? That’s kind of how you have to look at it. We can sit here and dwell on this and carry that into Sunday. What’s that going to do for us? Right? So understand you have an opportunity. You missed it. We get an opportunity on Sunday, and that’s the mindset.”
One way to make the most out of the opportunity is to focus on themselves rather than the referees’ whistles, especially after a scary moment occurred in Game 6. Harden went to the ground, attempting to draw, but the area wasn’t properly cleaned afterward, leading to a scary fall for his teammate, Dean Wade.
Oh my. The wet spot left behind by Harden was either not cleaned and/or improperly so. Dean Wade wipes out seconds later and the Pistons get a crucial wide open layup as a result. pic.twitter.com/t4ePbCeXNH
— Rob Perez (@WorldWideWob) May 16, 2026
Luckily, Wade was alright after the tumble, but the play perfectly encapsulated what the Cavs need to do differently in Game 7, and fans thought of it as some sort of karmic justice.
“Slipping on Harden’s own sweat from an egregious flop by Harden is just karma,” one fan wrote on X.
“The flop karma came back around,” a Pistons fan added.
“Harden’s grift was rejected by the basketball gods,” someone else wrote.
This may be Harden’s last chance to make a Finals appearance in his career, so don’t expect him to go down quietly in Game 7, flopping or not.
About Qwame Skinner
Qwame Skinner has loved both writing and sports his entire life. In addition to his sports coverage at Comeback Media, Qwame writes novels, and his debut; The First Casualty, an adult fantasy, is out now.