The Cavs, fuelled by 30 points from veteran James Harden, claimed their first road win of these playoffs to take a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven Eastern Conference semi-final series.
They will try to close it out at home when they host game six on Friday, with the New York Knicks awaiting in the conference finals.
“Great time to have a first road win,” Harden told broadcaster ESPN after Cleveland notched their third straight victory to move within sight of their first trip to the conference finals since 2018.
Cleveland trailed by as many as 15 points in the first half against the top-seeded Pistons, who were led by 39 points from Cade Cunningham.
They rallied in the third, but in a see-saw fourth quarter the Pistons appeared to have gained control with a 12-0 scoring run and led by nine with 3:57 left in regulation.
Once again the Cavaliers responded, Evan Mobley coming up with a dunk and two free throws to tie it up with 45.2 seconds remaining, part of a 13-0 Cleveland run bridging the fourth quarter and the start of overtime that put the Cavs ahead for good.
Cunningham’s jump shot with 25.9 seconds left in overtime pulled the Pistons back within two points, but they would get no closer.
Donovan Mitchell added 21 points and Max Strus chipped in 20 off the bench for Cleveland, who had 16 points and 10 rebounds from Jarrett Allen.
Cunningham added nine assists and seven rebounds and Daniss Jenkins scored 19 for the Pistons, who must win in Cleveland to force the series to return to Detroit for game seven.
Harden said the Cavs, unbeaten at home this post-season, can’t afford to let their guard down against a Detroit team that rallied from 3-1 down to beat Orlando in the first round.
“Very, very crazy team defensively,” he said.
“And we’ve seen what they’ve done. They’ve come back from 3-1, so from the beginning of the game we’ve got to make sure our mindset is right and we do the small things to finish the series.”
The third-seeded Knicks swept the Philadelphia 76ers in four games to reach the East finals for the second straight year. (AFP)