yahoo - 5/10/2026 12:54:32 AM - GMT (+2 )
We’ve arrived at the middle of the conference semifinal round, and the better squads out of the remaining eight teams have started to emerge.
There were two Game 3s Saturday, May 9, the first between the No. 1 seed Detroit Pistons and No. 4 Cleveland Cavaliers. In the nightcap, the No. 4 Los Angeles Lakers took on the defending NBA champions in the No. 1 Oklahoma City Thunder.
In both cases, the lower seeds were playing their first games of their respective series at home, and both were looking to avoid falling into debilitating 0-3 deficits.
Here are takeaways from Saturday’s Game 3s from the conference semifinal round:
No team is playing better hoops in the Eastern Conference than the New York Knicks, who are rolling through the 76ers, even as OG Anunoby is battling a hamstring issue that forced him out of Game 3 Friday, May 8.
While New York is excelling on both offense and defense, the Pistons have some vulnerabilities that have been exposed over the postseason. For one, All-Star center Jalen Duren (11 points and 4 rebounds in 29:17 on the floor Saturday) has become a role player, and is simply not a reliable No. 3 option, let alone a No. 2 threat.
In fact, his backup, Paul Reed (11 points and 3 rebounds in 9:46 on the floor) nearly matched Duren’s production in nearly 20 fewer minutes on the court. The Pistons lost 116-109.
The Cavaliers need the James Harden from the final two minutes of Game 3James Harden did nail a trio of massive buckets inside the final two minutes Saturday — a step-back jumper, a floater in the lane and a step-back 3 to score 7 consecutive points for Cleveland in the clutch — but the Cavaliers cannot simply rely on Donovan Mitchell carrying this team back into the series with 35-pieces every game.
But consider this: prior to the final 1:29 of the game, Harden was sitting on just 12 points on 5-of-11 shooting. Harden does deserve credit for not forcing shots and letting the game come to him, but a dose of aggression earlier in these games will go a long way to tying the series up.
Coach Kenny Atkinson did show an immense amount of trust in Harden by putting the ball in his hands down the stretch. The Cavs should hope it can carry over into Game 4.
In make-or-miss league, Pistons need to find other outlets of offenseLike many teams, when the shots are dropping for Detroit, it can be tough to beat. Also like many teams, when they’re not falling, the Pistons can be vulnerable.
In the first half, the Pistons shot just 2-of-14 (14.3%) from 3-point range. And while Detroit was fortunate to catch fire and hit 7-of-11 (63.6%) from deep in the second half, a 16-point deficit at the half proved to be too much to overcome.
This has been Detroit’s weakness all season long, so the Pistons need to find ways to generate easier looks in transition to help open up the 3-point shooting.
On Saturday, both teams committed 15 turnovers. Yet, the Cavaliers turned those giveaways into 27 points, while Detroit produced only 19.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: NBA scores, takeaways from today's playoff games: James Harden clutch?
read more