NBA NEWS

MITCHELL SCORES 26 AND THE CAVALIERS ROUT THE PISTONS 125-94 IN GAME 7 TO REACH THE EAST FINALS

DETROIT (AP) — Donovan Mitchell scored 26 points, Jarrett Allen and Sam Merrill each added 23 and the Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Detroit Pistons 125-94 on Sunday night in Game 7 to advance to the Eastern Conference finals.

The fourth-seeded Cavaliers ousted the East’s top seed and will face the third-seeded New York Knicks. Game 1 of that series tips off Tuesday in New York.

Evan Mobley had 21 points and 12 rebounds for the Cavaliers, who advanced to the conference finals for the first time since 2018 and the ninth time in team history. It’s their deepest run since LeBron James’ final season with the franchise.

“We didn’t just come here just to win a goal,” Mitchell said about making the conference finals for the first time in his career.

“Even last year. when we lost to Indiana, we had our goals set on getting to the (NBA) Finals. We’re just one step closer. It’s been almost a decade of running into the same issue. … As a team, we can breathe a little bit, but the same token, we can only breathe for about 12 hours, and then get right back to it.”

Daniss Jenkins scored 17 points, and Cade Cunningham and Duncan Robinson each finished with 13 for the Pistons, who fell one win shy of their first conference finals appearance since 2008 after forcing the deciding game with a Game 6 victory Friday night.

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“That game sucked,” said Cunningham, who was held 16 points under his playoff average. “Being back home, wanted to get this win in front of our fans. It reminded me of last year, losing on home court. It’s not a great feeling.”

The Cavs dictated the pace from the opening tip and never allowed the Pistons to gain traction, then blew open a convincing Game 7 performance when Mitchell scored 15 in the third quarter.

Detroit was outscored in the paint 58-34 and made only 35.3% of its field goal attempts, compared to Cleveland’s 50.6%

“When we play with force, it’s really a key. Like, force on both ends with our talent, we’re really hard to beat,” Cleveland coach Kenny Atkinson said. “The question we got to answer, we talked about it a lot, is we can’t have force letdowns like Game 6, where we were not the forceful team. But tonight we were, that was a whole difference, our force on both ends.”

Cleveland capitalized on cold shooting by the Pistons in the opening quarter, turning missed shots into transition baskets while building an early advantage. The Cavs led 31-22 going to the second, and after Detroit had the first two baskets, Cleveland quickly seized control with a 24-9 run. The Pistons’ offensive struggles only deepened and the Cavs continued to shoot efficiently as they built a commanding 64-47 lead into halftime.

The Cavs kept rolling in the second half and led by as much as 35 points. The closest the Pistons were able to get in the half was within 17 in the third quarter.

“We knew that start was monumental, the start that they knew that we were here, and that we were going to give them some problems,” Atkinson said. “The beginning of the game, that was key, and then coming out of halftime was the same message: ‘We got to win this first five minutes to put them on their on their heels.’”

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SHAI GILGEOUS-ALEXANDER OF THE THUNDER BECOMES THE 14TH PLAYER TO WIN BACK-TO-BACK NBA MVPS

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — He’s the best player on the best team. And the voters say he’s the best player in the league, too.

Again.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of the reigning NBA champion Oklahoma City Thunder won the NBA’s Most Valuable Player on Sunday for the second consecutive year. He became the 18th player to win at least two MVP awards and the 14th to win them in back-to-back fashion.

“Basketball’s obviously a team sport,” Gilgeous-Alexander said Sunday night in a celebration at the Thunder practice facility, surrounded by teammates — all in new Burberry trenchcoats, a gift from the now two-time MVP. “All the numbers, all the accolades, everything that I do on the court, if we won 10 games I wouldn’t be in this conversation. So, thank you guys so much. I love you guys.”

The win for Gilgeous-Alexander, who is Canadian, marks the eighth consecutive time that the NBA’s MVP was born outside the U.S. The run started with Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo (born in Greece, of Nigerian descent) in 2019 and 2020, then Denver’s Nikola Jokic (Serbia) in 2021 and 2022, Philadelphia’s Joel Embiid (born in Cameroon but has since become a U.S. citizen) in 2023 and Jokic again in 2024.

And in 2025 and 2026, SGA is the MVP. The coats were just one part of the massive haul of presents Gilgeous-Alexander shared with teammates Sunday; there were personalized golf bags, gift baskets and very pricey watches — which he handed to each teammate.

“Who he is has never changed,” Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said. “I think he’s touched up the edges on his game and on his leadership and on his perspective, just like anybody else that’s coming of age.”

Jokic was second and San Antonio’s star French center Victor Wembanyama placed third.

Gilgeous-Alexander got 83 of a possible 100 first-place votes. Jokic received 10 and Wembanyama got five. Luka Doncic of the Los Angeles Lakers was fourth in the voting and Cade Cunningham of the Detroit Pistons was fifth.

Cunningham got two first-place votes — the first by a U.S.-born player since 2021.

Jaylen Brown of the Boston Celtics was sixth, and Kawhi Leonard of the Los Angeles Clippers and Donovan Mitchell of the Cleveland Cavaliers tied for seventh with one fifth-place vote apiece.

International players went 1-2-3 in the voting for the fifth straight season.

— Last season the order was Gilgeous-Alexander, Jokic and Antetokounmpo.

— In 2024, it was Jokic, then Gilgeous-Alexander and Doncic (Slovenia) of Slovenia.

— In 2023, it was Embiid, then Jokic, then Antetokounmpo.

— In 2022, it was Jokic, then Embiid, then Antetokounmpo.

“So many NBA players don’t get opportunity,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “Who knows where I’d be without it.”

Gilgeous-Alexander and Wembanyama will face off Monday night when the Thunder and Spurs open Game 1 of the Western Conference finals in Oklahoma City. NBA Commissioner Adam Silver is expected at Monday’s game to formally present Gilgeous-Alexander with a trophy for the third time in 12 months — the MVP award last May, the NBA Finals MVP award last June, and now this.

Jokic not winning the award continues an odd trend: those who average a triple-double, often thought of as the holy grail of in-game accomplishment, almost never win MVP.

Jokic had the seventh instance of a player finishing a season averaging a triple-double — at least 10 points, 10 assists and 10 rebounds per game — by putting up 27.7 points, a league-best 12.9 rebounds and a league-best 10.7 assists per game.

It wasn’t good enough for MVP. Russell Westbrook averaged a triple-double four times and won MVP only once in those years. Oscar Robertson averaged a triple-double in 1961-62; he didn’t win MVP that season. And now, Jokic has done it twice — with no MVPs to show for it, though he has won the award on three other occasions.

Gilgeous-Alexander insists that he doesn’t play for individual honors. He plays for team trophies.

“The way things are run in this organization and this city, it breeds success,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “It’s no coincidence.”

The MVP win is Gilgeous-Alexander’s second major individual award this season; he was also voted the league’s Clutch Player of the Year by an overwhelming margin — he got 96 of 100 first-place votes in that balloting, paying tribute to how great his performances tend to be in the final five minutes of close games.

Then again, he’s pretty good no matter how much time is on the clock.

Gilgeous-Alexander was second in the league with 31.1 points per game, second only to Doncic and his 33.5-point average. He also extended his NBA-record streak of regular season games with at least 20 points to 140 and counting; it’ll carry into next season as well.

He’s delightfully boring — one of the few mid-range specialists in the game, someone who excels at drawing fouls, isn’t a look-at-me type and gives some of the most thoughtful answers of anyone in the league. Emotions aren’t worth his time; staying calm is always his preferred move.

And he believes in the Thunder way, that the sum of the parts is the only real key to winning.

“Some of it is just luck,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “As an NBA player, you have no control over other grown men in this business and I’m just lucky enough to be surrounded by great human beings, from the front office, coaching staff, to the guys that I play on the court with every night. We all want to see the next man win and do whatever it takes ultimately to win. We have that common goal. And yeah, I can’t take credit for that. It’s more than me, it’s bigger than me.”

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