Donovan Mitchell had four points at the half. He finished with 43.
The Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Detroit Pistons 112-103 in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference semifinals on Monday night, evening the series at 2-2 behind a Mitchell performance that put him into the NBA record book. His 39 second-half points tied Eric "Sleepy" Floyd's 1987 mark for most points scored in a single playoff half — a record that had stood unmatched for 39 years.
The third-quarter run
Cleveland came out of halftime trailing and ripped off 25 unanswered points to start the second half. Mitchell scored 8 of those in the first 96 seconds. He finished the quarter with 21, the fifth time in his playoff career he has scored 20-plus in a single period. The run effectively decided the game; the Pistons spent the fourth quarter chasing a lead they never seriously threatened.
James Harden contributed 24 points and 11 assists. Evan Mobley added 17 with eight rebounds and five blocks. Caris LeVert led Detroit with 24 off the bench. Cade Cunningham finished with 19 points, six assists and five turnovers — the kind of line that tells you exactly how disruptive the third quarter was for the Pistons' offensive rhythm.
Where Mitchell stands in Cleveland's history
This was Mitchell's fourth career 40-point playoff game in a Cavaliers uniform. That moves him past Kyrie Irving and leaves only LeBron James — at 24 — ahead of him on the franchise list. He has now been on the floor for two of the three series-saving wins Cleveland has logged this spring, the other being the first-round shape of the East bracket that set up this second-round matchup against Detroit.
What the series looks like now
It is best-of-three. Game 5 shifts back to Detroit, where the Pistons won the regular-season series. Cleveland is 5-0 at Rocket Arena this postseason and 0-2 on the road, so home court matters in a way it doesn't usually in May. The Pistons get Cunningham's playoff inexperience working both ways — he is averaging 25 in this series, but his Game 4 turnovers and the Cavaliers' ability to switch onto him in the third quarter both point to a coach (J.B. Bickerstaff in Detroit) trying to coax a young roster through its first deep playoff run.
The Cavaliers' answer in Game 5 will not be a 39-point half from Mitchell — that's a once-a-generation line, not a strategy. The answer is whether Harden's 24-11 holds up on the road, whether Mobley's defensive activity travels, and whether Cleveland can keep starting Pistons quarters the way they started the third on Monday. The shoulder-checking, switch-everything Cavaliers were the better team for 24 minutes. The series asks if they can be the better team for 144.
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