The Cleveland Cavaliers thrashed top seeds the Detroit Pistols 125-94 in their series decider to secure a place in the NBA Eastern Conference finals for the first time since 2018.
Donovan Mitchell scored 26 points, Sam Merrill and Jarrett Allen 23 and Evan Mobley 21 for the Cavaliers, while Daniss Jenkins was the Pistons’ highest scorer with 17.
Cleveland, who lost the first two games of the series, raced into a 20-point lead in the first half before wrapping up a 4-3 series win at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit.
The fourth seeds will face third seeds the New York Knicks for a place in the NBA Finals, with game one at Madison Square Garden in New York at 01:00 BST on Wednesday.
“This is fantastic. But we’ve got to be more disciplined,” Mitchell said.
“We shouldn’t have to wait to get hit, to get punched in the mouth and face a go-home situation.”
Detroit, who finished the regular season with a 60-22 record, have not reached the Eastern Conference finals since 2005.
The Cavaliers or Knicks will play the Oklahoma City Thunder or the San Antonio Spurs in the NBA Finals.
The Western Conference finals begin at 01:30 BST on Tuesday in Oklahoma.
Gilgeous-Alexander wins second straight MVP
Oklahoma guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander became the 14th player in NBA history to win back-to-back Most Valuable Player (MVP) awards.
The 27-year-old is the first player to do so since Denver Nuggets centre Nikola Jokic in 2021 and 2022, and the first guard since Golden State Warriors’ Stephen Curry in 2015 and 2016.
“It’s special – not really for me personally but more so for the city and organisation,” Gilgeous-Alexander said.
He received 83 first-place votes and won with 939 points in a ballot of 100 voters.
Jokic finished second and Spurs centre Victor Wembanyama third.
After signing a four-year contract extension worth a reported $285m (£214m) in the off-season, Gilgeous-Alexander averaged 31.1 points, 6.6 assists and 4.3 rebounds in 68 games as Oklahoma finished the regular season with a 64-18 record.
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