The Cleveland Cavaliers seemingly let their chance to close out the Detroit Pistons slip away when they lost Game 6 at home, but nobody told them. Despite the disappointment of Friday night, the Cavs came out in Game 7 on Sunday and played one of their best games of the season to get a 125-94 win and advance to the Eastern Conference Finals.

Donovan Mitchell was excellent for Cleveland on Sunday night, as he was for most of the series. He recorded one of the best halves in NBA playoff history in Game 4, scoring 39 points in the final 24 minutes to even the series. On Sunday night, he controlled the game throughout and finished with 26 points, six rebounds and eight assists despite struggling with foul trouble.

Mitchell has also now reached his first conference finals after falling in the second round four times. After the game, Cavs guard Sam Merrill shared how thrilled he is for Mitchell that he has finally made it this deep in the postseason, via Ashly Holder of Cleveland 19 News.

“Donovan is someone that, it’s hard to describe what Donovan means to me,” Merrill said. “… You’re not gonna find a guy more happy for him than I am.”

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Merrill helped out his buddy and the rest of the Cavs with a monster performance off the bench in Game 7. The former Utah State star finished with 23 points on 7-of-10 shooting and 5-of-8 from the 3-point line. Whenever it looked like the Pistons might get back in the game in the first half, Merrill came up with a big shot to keep them at arm’s length.

Cleveland will need more of that from both Mitchell and Merrill if they are going to beat the red-hot New York Knicks in the conference finals. The Knicks have won seven games in a row and will be very well-rested after sweeping the Philadelphia 76ers in the second round, and they will also have home-court advantage at Madison Square Garden. However, more big games from Mitchell could send the Cavs to their first NBA Finals since 2018.