NBA playoffs winners and losers: Thunder stay perfect, Cunningham leads Cavaliers
The second round of the 2026 NBA Playoffs continued on Thursday with two Game 2s. The top-seeded Detroit Pistons, led by Cade Cunningham and Tobias Harris, continued their strong run to beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 107-97, taking a 2-0 lead in the series.
Let’s take a look at the big winners and losers from Thursday night’s action.
Winner: Cunningham the Floor General
Cade Cunningham took control of fourth quarter in ‘fabulous’ performance for Pistons star
It wasn’t Cade Cunningham’s loudest performance in the playoffs — he attempted just 14 shots in 42 minutes — but he controlled the game as much as he did when he scored 45 points in Game 5 of the Orlando series. For the first three quarters, Cunningham mostly just set up his teammates and use the Cavaliers’ pressure against them. In the fourth, he scored 12 of his team’s 25 points, but it never felt like he was forcing it. Sometimes he was content to let Tobias Harris attack in isolation or Daniss Jenkins initiate.
“Cade is just fabulous,” Pistons coach JB Bickerstaff told reporters after the game. “He’s a killer closer. All the adjectives you want to talk about, that’s him. And in the fourth quarter, he does his best work.”
With six minutes left and the Pistons leading by just two, Cunningham punished Dean Wade for going under a screen and nailed a pull-up 3. On the next trip, he had James Harden pass over him, then calmly knocked down a mid-range jumper.
And with less than three minutes remaining, just after getting a save against Donovan Mitchell in isolation, Cunningham shook Max Strus for a smooth stepback 3 to give Detroit a nine-point lead. I don’t know if that qualifies as a dagger — Cleveland managed to make it a two-possession game again — but it was absolutely huge.
Cunningham shot 3 of 6 from deep and 7 of 14 overall, and he made all eight of his free throw attempts. He also dished out 10 assists (including six that led to 3) and spent much of his night guarding Harden or Mitchell. He wasn’t perfect, as evidenced by his five turnovers, but he had a plus-13 record and that’s how it was.
This is a player who had a preternatural feel for the game long before he arrived in the NBA. Typically, floor generals like this aren’t as tough, multi-positional defenders. Through two games in this series, he was the best all-around player on the field. -James Herbert
Loser: the Cavs in the first quarter
Cleveland can’t stop turning the ball over
Early in the game, in less than two and a half minutes, the Pistons went on a 9-0 run to take a 14-5 lead. During that run, the Cavaliers committed three live-ball turnovers. This has been a problem for Cleveland throughout the playoffs, and it must be driving the coaching staff crazy.
Yes, the Cavaliers’ opponents — first the Toronto Raptors and now Detroit — are excellent defensive teams, and they’ve had to deal with a lot of physicality. But the whole point of having Mitchell and Harden on the same roster is that you should be able to handle this stuff. If Cleveland’s offense doesn’t look purposeful and organized, something is seriously wrong.
To the Cavs’ credit, they solved the turnover problem after halftime. However, they turned it over 12 times in the first half and scored just 81.8 points per 100 possessions (and 59.1 per 100 in the halfcourt) in the first quarter, according to Cleaning The Glass.
Cleveland coach Kenny Atkinson told reporters the team was “a little bogged down” offensively and had trouble creating separation. Considering Detroit won the first quarter 37-21 in the opener, this was disappointing.
“I don’t know what’s going on with games starting,” Atkinson said. “(The Pistons) were very aggressive, of course, but it’s the playoffs. Obviously, I didn’t understand that.”
If Atkinson wants to shore up the offense early, perhaps Strus or Jaylon Tyson will take Dean Wade’s place in the starting lineup in Game 3. No matter who is out there, the Cavs have to get out of their own way.
“We need to look at it,” Atkinson said. “We just have to keep looking at it. There are lineups, there are tactics, there are even more aggressive defensive tactics. Picking up the pace earlier in the match. Maybe running fewer sets. Even if we don’t run a ton of sets. You know how these things go. Everything is on the table. Everything. We have to look at everything.” -James Herbert
Winner: Ajay Mitchell and Jared McCain
OKC’s dynasty appears to be in good hands
Ajay Mitchell and Jared McCain are essentially a luxury for the Thunder. Oklahoma City won last year’s championship when Mitchell was barely playing. He is always a reserve when the team is complete. McCain might not even make the full rotation. He only played about 24 minutes total in the first-round win over Phoenix.
And tonight, in a game in which the Lakers contained Shai Gilgeous-Alexander as well as a team with his personnel can, it was luxury that ultimately allowed the Thunder to gain the upper hand. The first half belonged to Mitchell, who got to the rim at will against a Lakers defense that couldn’t stay in front of him. The second was McCain’s as he rained down a 3-pointer, which helped turn a close game into a relatively comfortable victory.
Many teams would be eager to build their backcourt around the Mitchell-McCain duo. Here they are waiting in the wings. Game 2 was a reminder that they wouldn’t have to wait much longer. The Thunder are set to make their first real set of financial decisions this summer. With the apron hanging over them, the most expensive veterans will likely be shown the door. McCain and Mitchell have two cheap years left on their contracts. They are about to move from luxury to essentials. And they’re more than ready for the job. –Sam Quinn
Loser: The Lakers
Without Luka Dončić, the Lakers simply can’t hold on long enough
Twice in a row now, the Lakers have managed to play the Thunder relatively competitively on the road during halftime. They held Gilgeous-Alexander to 40 total points in two games. Aside from the turnovers, which were inevitable against the Thunder, they held up much better against Oklahoma City than anyone could have reasonably expected. And then the second half comes, the Thunder gets serious, and it’s no longer competitive.
There’s nothing the Lakers can do about it in their current state. The talent gap is simply too great with the absence of Luka Dončić. But seeing the series play out this way must be somewhat agonizing for a Lakers team that lost four regular season games to the Thunder by about 5,000 points combined. They learned from these losses. They were as well prepared as they could be for this game. If they had Doncčić, who knows? This series may have been competitive.
It’s encouraging to head into next season, but little is certain from there. The Lakers are not the Thunder. They don’t have an endless conveyor belt of entry-level players to replace with players who leave. Most of the roster is earmarked for free agency, and while key pieces remain, LeBron James is 41 years old. He (probably) won’t be able to do this forever. You never know how many chances you’ll have in the NBA. After two games, it looks like this could have been a real game for the Lakers if their best player was healthy. This could have been a real series. It’s not without him. –Sam Quinn
