Thursday produced two home wins and two road teams running out of answers. In Detroit, Cunningham finished with 25 points and 10 assists — Robinson broke a tie with 9:40 left, Harden turned it over with 33 seconds on the clock with the Pistons up six, and Cleveland went 0-of-11 from three in the fourth quarter as the Pistons closed out a 107-97 win to go up 2-0. In Oklahoma City, Austin Reaves erupted for 31 points in his best playoff game of the postseason, the Lakers led by one at halftime, and then the Thunder went on a 23-5 run across the second half to strip all the oxygen from the room — OKC 125, LA 107, series at 2-0 with the games shifting to Los Angeles. The story of Thursday was what the losing teams couldn't manufacture when they needed it most.

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Detroit Pistons 107, Cleveland Cavaliers 97

Mitchell gave Cleveland everything he had. Thirty-one points in 45 minutes, back-to-back threes in the third quarter that brought the Cavaliers within four, a floater at the halftime buzzer that kept the deficit manageable going into the break. It was the best individual effort of the series from any Cleveland player. It still wasn't enough, because Harden gave away the game at the other end and the Pistons had answers for everything Cleveland tried in the fourth.

Detroit built an 11-point halftime lead on the back of Harris' post-up work — he posted Harden up repeatedly and drew foul after foul, finding the line as efficiently as he's played all postseason — and Jenkins' buzzer-beater three that sent the building into hysteria at the half. The Cavaliers mounted a real run in the third, Allen bouncing back from his Game 1 foul-trouble nightmare with 22 points and 7 rebounds, Mitchell's threes cutting it to four entering the fourth. Mobley slammed it down early in the final quarter to give Cleveland its first lead since early in the game. Bickerstaff called timeout. Out of the timeout, Harris hit a turnaround, Robinson followed with the fifth of his five threes to break the tie at 9:40, and the Pistons never relinquished the lead again.

Cunningham's 25 came with 10 assists — driving, creating, setting up Robinson's threes and Duren's dunks, and delivering the dagger at 2:12 when the series was still theoretically alive. His step-back three with the Pistons up nine pushed it to a number Cleveland's fourth-quarter shooting could never overcome. They went 0-of-11 from three in the period. Strus — who had 19 in Game 1 — managed 3 points with Sam Merrill out with a hamstring injury he picked up in Game 1. Harden shot 3-of-13 from the field for 10 points, turned it over four times, and with 33 seconds left and Cleveland trailing by six — a makeable deficit with stops — turned it over again. Duren blocked Schröder at the rim in the fourth, Cunningham swatted Schröder's layup from behind in another possession, and the Pistons' interior defense was at its most physical when Cleveland needed something to go right.

Detroit has won five consecutive playoff games since the Cavaliers pushed them to the brink. Two years ago they won 14 games total. They are two wins from the Eastern Conference Finals.

DET leads series 2-0. Game 3 is Saturday in Cleveland.

DET 107 · CLE 97

Oklahoma City Thunder 125, Los Angeles Lakers 107

The Lakers came out and played their best half of the series — Reaves getting clean looks and converting them, Hachimura hitting from deep repeatedly, and the team leaning into the double-team scheme for SGA that produced seven turnovers in Game 1. At the half they led 58-57, Reaves leading the way offensively. It felt like a different series for half a game.

Then the Thunder answered with 23-5. The run started midway through the third quarter — OKC stringing together stops and transition buckets, the Lakers going seven minutes with only seven points — and by the time Holmgren dunked to cap the burst, the Thunder led by 13 entering the fourth. Holmgren opened the fourth with a three, Wallace converted two free throws to push it to 107-94, and then an 8-0 OKC run with six minutes left made it a formal close. Reaves never stopped fighting — he finished with 31 points and 6 assists, his best playoff output this postseason, drawing a flagrant-one foul on SGA that resulted in three free throws and briefly kept LA within reach in the third. But the turnovers consumed the Lakers again: 19 giveaways that OKC converted into 26 points, their 23rd and 24th coming in the third quarter when the game's direction permanently shifted.

LeBron finished with 23 points and 6 assists — productive without the dominance he brought in Houston. Hachimura's 16 on 4-of-7 from three was the second-best Lakers effort. Smart added 14 points with 5 assists. The Thunder matched their balanced output with six players in double figures: SGA and Holmgren each had 22, Ajay Mitchell came off the bench for 20 points and 6 assists in another statement performance, and McCain added 18. OKC generated 48 points from the bench and 17 second-chance points — a structural depth advantage the Lakers' roster simply cannot replicate with their current team (plus injuries). SGA was the nominal second offensive player on Thursday — allowing Holmgren and the bench to do the damage — and it still wasn't a contest after the third quarter. The Lakers return home hoping to build on the success while cleaning up the errors. That, plus a lot of luck, could help them avoid being swept.

OKC leads series 2-0. Game 3 is Saturday in Los Angeles.

OKC 125 · LAL 107

Thursday crystallized the second round's central tension in its clearest form yet. Detroit and Oklahoma City are winning these series the same way: by having more answers in the moments that determine games. Cunningham has more help than Mitchell does. Holmgren and the bench have more depth than anyone the Lakers can put next to LeBron and Reaves. The teams that came through the first round — battered, short-staffed, running on collective will — are running into opponents who have full rosters and defined systems, and the accumulated cost of the first round is showing in the fourth quarters.

Cleveland goes to their own building for Games 3 and 4 having been outscored 41-27 in fourth quarters across the first two games. They were tough to beat at home against Toronto in the first round. The building can matter. But they need Harden to be Harden and they need Strus back. The Lakers go to Los Angeles trailing 0-2 and their two home games could be their last of the season if they don’t figure out the Thunder.

Stud of the Day: Austin Reaves, Los Angeles Lakers — 31 points, 6 assists, drew a flagrant foul on SGA that resulted in three free throws, and was the best player on either team for the first half. He gave LA everything they needed to be in this game and the Thunder still pulled away. That's how good OKC is — Reaves had his best playoff game of the season and the result was an 18-point loss.

Dud of the Night: James Harden, Cleveland Cavaliers — 10 points on 3-of-13 from the field, 4 turnovers, the worst of which came with 33 seconds left and the Cavaliers trailing by six with a chance to make it a two-possession game. Cleveland needs a different Harden in Cleveland. The version that showed up in Games 1 and 2 of this series cannot win in the second round.