Cleveland Cavaliers vs Detroit Pistons Prediction, Preview and Odds - 05/07/2026

Game Time: 7:00 pm ET, Thursday, May 7, 2026

Venue:  Little Caesars Arena, Detroit, MI 

Where to Watch:  Prime Video

DraftKings:  Point Spread:  Cavaliers +3.5, Pistons -3.5; Over/Under:  215.5 points

Bet365:  Point Spread:  Cavaliers +3.5, Pistons -3.5; Over/Under:  215.5 points

BetMGM:  Point Spread:  Cavaliers +3.5, Pistons -3.5; Over/Under:  215.5 points

Cleveland Cavaliers:  52-30 (2nd place, Central Division)

Detroit Pistons:  60-22 (1st place, Central Division)

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Cleveland Cavaliers:  5-5 last 10

Detroit Pistons:  7-3 last 10

The Cavaliers are entering the playoffs with a 52-30 record overall this season and they were 25-16 in their road games where they will be in this game. They are entering this game off a loss against the Detroit Pistons. Donovan Mitchell led the team in points in that game with 23 while James Harden was next on the team with 22 points. James Harden led the team in assists in that game with 7 while Evan Mobley led the team in rebounds with 9. They were 45% from the field, 36.8% from 3-point range, and 93.8% from the free throw line with their shots in that game. Their offense is averaging 119.5 PPG and their defense is allowing their opponents to average 115.4 PPG against them. The Cavaliers have an ATS record of 36-54 this season and their O/U record is 45-45.

The Pistons are entering the playoffs with a 60-22 record overall this season and they were 31-9 in their home games where they will be in this game. They are entering this game on a 4 game winning streak with wins coming against the Orlando Magic 3 times in a row and the Cleveland Cavaliers. Cade Cunningham led the team in points in that game with 23 while Tobias Harris was next on the team with 20 points. Cade Cunningham led the team in assists in that game with 7 while Jalen Duren led the team in rebounds with 12. They were 44% from the field, 38.5% from 3-point range, and 77.1% from the free throw line with their shots in that game. Their offense is averaging 117.8 PPG and their defense is allowing their opponents to average 109.6 PPG against them. The Pistons have an ATS record of 48-42 this season and their O/U record is 41-48-1.

The current betting odds have the Pistons listed as a 3.5 point favorite in this game according to Draftkings Sportsbook. The Pistons have looked great in their games this season with their 60-22 record overall which had them right at the top of the East with one of the best records in the entire NBA. They have looked great on their home court too with their 31-9 home record this season. Meanwhile, the Cavaliers have looked good in their games this season with their 52-30 record overall which had them in the top half of the East. They have been a good road team too with their 25-16 road record this year. This is game 2 of a 7-game series between the 1 seeded Pistons and the 4 seeded Cavaliers in the East for the 2nd round of the NBA playoffs. The Pistons are entering this game with a 1-0 series lead after winning game 1 by a score of 111-101. The Pistons are now 7-3 in their last 10 games and they have been rolling lately. They were pushed to the brink of elimination in the 1st round, falling behind 3-1 in their series against the Magic, but they dug deep to fight back and ended up winning the series. Now they have been rolling with 4 wins in a row and they have been crushing opponents in these games with all 4 wins being by double digits. Their defense has been great in the playoffs too and they have been putting up more points lately too. The Cavaliers were a solid team in the regular season, but they were also really up and down with a terrible start to the season. They had some trouble in the last round too as they needed 7 games to get by the Raptors and they didn't win a single game in that series on the road. The Pistons have taken the momentum in this series with that win in game 1 and they have all of the momentum on their side now that they are rolling after a tough start to the playoffs. Look for the Pistons to continue rolling in this one and beat up on a Cavaliers team that hasn't won a road game in these playoffs yet. The best way to place a bet here is on the Pistons to cover the spread in this game. 

Cavaliers Pistons Prediction:  Our NBA Pick for Thursday, May 7, 2026 (7:00 pm ET start time) is Pistons 104 Cavaliers 96.

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Cleveland Cavaliers: 16-28 ATS in road games. 5-9 ATS when playing against a top-level team (Win Pct. > 70%). 7-14 ATS versus teams who average 9 or more steals/game on the season. 11-5 UNDER versus good rebounding teams - outrebounding opponents by 3+ per game.

Detroit Pistons: 27-17 ATS after playing a home game. 20-14 ATS off a home win. 5-2 ATS off a home win against a division rival. 8-1 UNDER in a home game where the total is 210 to 219.5. 22-13 UNDER as a favorite of 3.5 to 9.5 points.

Cleveland Cavaliers:  S. Merrill (SG) Day To Day - Hamstring.

Detroit Pistons:  K. Huerter (SG) Day To Day - Adductor.

“You look within first. Look at my turnovers and a lot of them are just on me and nothing they did.” - James Harden after their loss against the Pistons in the 1st game of this series on Tuesday.

“That's what this series presents, but we're up for a challenge. I thought tonight we did a great job of that.” - Tobias Harris after their win against the Cavaliers in game 1 of this series on Tuesday. 

PG James Harden

SG Donovan Mitchell

SF Dean Wade

PF Evan Mobley

C Jarrett Allen

PG Cade Cunningham

SG Duncan Robinson

SF Ausar Thompson

PF Tobias Harris

C Jalen Duren

PPG: Donovan Mitchell (27.9)

APG: James Harden (7.7)

Reb/G: Evan Mobley (9)

PPG: Cade Cunningham (23.9)

APG: Cade Cunningham (9.9)

Reb/G: Jalen Duren (10.5)

Coaches:

Cleveland Cavaliers: Kenny Atkinson (2nd season)

Detroit Pistons: J.B. Bickerstaff (2nd season)