Schedule and 2025-26 Results:
Regular Season Records: Detroit 60-22, Cleveland 52-30
Game 1 on Tuesday, 05 May: Cleveland loses at Detroit, 111-pts-101
Game 2 on Thursday, 07 May: Cleveland loses at Detroit, 107-pts-97
Game 3 on Saturday, 09 May: Detroit loses at Cleveland, 116-pts-109
Game 4 on Monday, 11 May: Detroit loses at Cleveland, 112-pts-103
Game 5 on Wednesday, 13 May: Cleveland wins at Detroit, 117-pts-113(OT)
Game 6 on Friday, 15 May: Detroit at Cleveland
Game 7* on Sunday, 17 May: Cleveland at Detroit
*if needed

HISTORICAL VICTORY PROBABILITIES: Leading 3-games-2:
Ignoring win order; ignoring site order: The team leading 3-games-2 irrespective of site order (Cleveland) has the following best-of-7 playoff series and games record through the 2026 NBA/NHL Preliminary round:
series record, all best-of-7 sports, all rounds: 755-190 (.799)
series record, all best-of-7 sports, Quarterfinals round: 212-47 (.819)
series record, NBA only, all rounds: 304-59 (.837)
series record, NBA only, Quarterfinals round: 112-20 (.848)
Game 6 record, all best-of-7 sports, all rounds: 522-423 (.552)
Game 6 record, all best-of-7 sports, Quarterfinals round: 132-127 (.510)
Game 6 record, NBA only, all rounds: 205-158 (.565)
Game 6 record, NBA only, Quarterfinals round: 68-64 (.515)
These records are drawn from the applicable 1632 best-of-7 NHL, NBA, and MLB series played through the 2026 NBA/NHL Preliminary round. Note in general that the greater the number of games or series fitting a particular situation, the greater the significance of the corresponding winning fraction: For example, 0.800 is far more likely to come closer to the true winning fraction in a given situation when the corresponding win-loss record is 400-100 rather than 4-1.

HISTORICAL VICTORY PROBABILITIES: Leading 3-games-2 @ VVHHV:
Ignoring win order; considering site order: The team leading 3-games-2 with site order VVHHV (Cleveland) has the following best-of-7 playoff series and games record through the 2026 NBA/NHL Preliminary round:
series record, all best-of-7 sports, all rounds: 231-69 (.770)
series record, all best-of-7 sports, Quarterfinals round: 72-18 (.800)
series record, NBA only, all rounds: 87-29 (.750)
series record, NBA only, Quarterfinals round: 31-10 (.756)
Game 6 record, all best-of-7 sports, all rounds: 184-116 (.613)
Game 6 record, all best-of-7 sports, Quarterfinals round: 52-38 (.578)
Game 6 record, NBA only, all rounds: 71-45 (.612)
Game 6 record, NBA only, Quarterfinals round: 25-16 (.610)
These records are drawn from the applicable 1632 best-of-7 NHL, NBA, and MLB series played through the 2026 NBA/NHL Preliminary round. Note in general that the greater the number of games or series fitting a particular situation, the greater the significance of the corresponding winning fraction: For example, 0.800 is far more likely to come closer to the true winning fraction in a given situation when the corresponding win-loss record is 400-100 rather than 4-1.

HISTORICAL VICTORY PROBABILITIES: Leading LLWWW:
Considering win order; ignoring site order: The team leading LLWWW irrespective of site order (Cleveland) has the following best-of-7 playoff series and games record through the 2026 NBA/NHL Preliminary round:
series record, all best-of-7 sports, all rounds: 63-28 (.692)
series record, all best-of-7 sports, Quarterfinals round: 17-9 (.654)
series record, NBA only, all rounds: 17-11 (.607)
series record, NBA only, Quarterfinals round: 4-5 (.444)
Game 6 record, all best-of-7 sports, all rounds: 44-47 (.484)
Game 6 record, all best-of-7 sports, Quarterfinals round: 11-15 (.423)
Game 6 record, NBA only, all rounds: 14-14 (.500)
Game 6 record, NBA only, Quarterfinals round: 3-6 (.333)
These records are drawn from the applicable 1632 best-of-7 NHL, NBA, and MLB series played through the 2026 NBA/NHL Preliminary round. Note in general that the greater the number of games or series fitting a particular situation, the greater the significance of the corresponding winning fraction: For example, 0.800 is far more likely to come closer to the true winning fraction in a given situation when the corresponding win-loss record is 400-100 rather than 4-1.

HISTORICAL VICTORY PROBABILITIES: Leading LLWWW @ VVHHV:
Considering win order; considering site order: The team leading LLWWW with site order VVHHV (Cleveland) has the following best-of-7 playoff series and games record through the 2026 NBA/NHL Preliminary round:
series record, all best-of-7 sports, all rounds: 32-13 (.711)
series record, all best-of-7 sports, Quarterfinals round: 9-5 (.643)
series record, NBA only, all rounds: 12-9 (.571)
series record, NBA only, Quarterfinals round: 2-4 (.333)
Game 6 record, all best-of-7 sports, all rounds: 26-19 (.578)
Game 6 record, all best-of-7 sports, Quarterfinals round: 6-8 (.429)
Game 6 record, NBA only, all rounds: 11-10 (.524)
Game 6 record, NBA only, Quarterfinals round: 2-4 (.333)
These records are drawn from the applicable 1632 best-of-7 NHL, NBA, and MLB series played through the 2026 NBA/NHL Preliminary round. Note in general that the greater the number of games or series fitting a particular situation, the greater the significance of the corresponding winning fraction: For example, 0.800 is far more likely to come closer to the true winning fraction in a given situation when the corresponding win-loss record is 400-100 rather than 4-1.

SERIES NOTES:

After Game 5: The Cleveland Cavaliers visited and topped the Detroit Pistons 117-pts-113(OT) to take a best-of-7 MLB/NBA/NHL playoff series 1640 lead of 3-games-2. When leading a best-of-7 MLB/NBA/NHL playoff series 3-games-2, the Cleveland Cavaliers have a series record of 11-1 and a Game 6 record of 6-6. When trailing a best-of-7 MLB/NBA/NHL playoff series 3-games-2, the Detroit Pistons have a series record of 5-11 and a Game 6 record of 8-8. Leading a best-of-7 NBA playoff series 3-games-2, the Cleveland Cavaliers sustained their sole series loss in series 980, to the Detroit Pistons in the 2006 NBA Quarterfinals. The Cleveland Cavaliers trailed their host Detroit Pistons by eight points after two quarters of series 1640 Game 5, but won: In the history of best-of-7 NBA playoff games from 1947 through 12 May 2026, inclusive, road teams down eight points after two quarters had a game record of only 25-113 (.181) - the Cleveland Cavaliers thus achieve a grade-B (.100 - .199) in-game comeback in their road victory in Detroit over the Pistons in overtime.

After Game 4: The Cleveland Cavaliers hosted and defeated the Detroit Pistons 112-pts-103 to tie best-of-7 MLB/NBA/NHL playoff series 1640 at 2-games-all. When tied 2-games-all in a best-of-7 MLB/NBA/NHL playoff series, the Detroit Pistons have a series record of 11-9 and a Game 5 record of 9-11, while the Cleveland Cavaliers have a series record of 10-6 (with an active five-series winning streak) and a Game 5 record of 10-6. Irrespective of Games 1-3 outcomes, the Detroit Pistons with their series 1640 Game 4 loss extend their best-of-7 NBA playoff Game 4 losing streak to six consecutive Game 4s. Twice before had the Detroit Pistons and Cleveland Cavaliers been knotted 2-games-all in best-of-7 NBA playoff series against each other: Detroit and Cleveland split those two series.

After Game 3: The Cleveland Cavaliers hosted and topped the Detroit Pistons 116-pts-109 to drop the Detroit Pistons best-of-7 MLB/NBA/NHL series 1640 lead to 2-games-1. When leading a best-of-7 MLB/NBA/NHL playoff series 2-games-1, the Detroit Pistons have a series record of 15-2 and a Game 4 record of 9-8. When trailing a best-of-7 MLB/NBA/NHL playoff series 2-games-1, the Cleveland Cavaliers have a series record of 6-8 and a Game 4 record of 9-5. Irrespective of Games 1-2 outcomes, the series 1640 Game 3 loss extends the best-of-7 NBA playoffs Game 3 losing streak for the Detroit Pistons to ten consecutive Game 3s.

After Game 2: The Detroit Pistons hosted and topped the Cleveland Cavaliers 107-pts-97 to take a best-of-7 MLB/NBA/NHL playoff series 1640 lead of 2-games-nil. When leading a best-of-7 MLB/NBA/NHL playoff series 2-games-nil, the Detroit Pistons have a series record of 12-1 and a Game 3 record of 4-9. When trailing a best-of-7 MLB/NBA/NHL playoff series 2-games-nil, the Cleveland Cavaliers have a series record of 3-8 and a Game 3 record of 7-4. Irrespective of Games 1-2 outcomes, the Detroit Pistons have an active nine-Game 3 losing streak in best-of-7 NBA playoff Game 3s. Leading a best-of-7 NBA playoff series 2-games-nil, the Detroit Pistons sustained their sole series loss in series 1017, in the 2007 NBA Semifinals, to the Cleveland Cavaliers.

After Game 1: The Detroit Pistons hosted and defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers 111-pts-101 to take a best-of-7 MLB/NBA/NHL playoff series 1640 lead of 1-game-nil. When leading a best-of-7 MLB/NBA/NHL playoff series 1-game-nil, the Detroit Pistons have a series record of 21-4 and a Game 2 record of 13-12 (with an active six-Game 2 winning streak). When trailing a best-of-7 MLB/NBA/NHL playoff series 1-game-nil, the Cleveland Cavaliers have a series record of 6-13 (with an active four-series losing streak) and a Game 2 record of 8-11. The series 1640 Game 1 victory by the Detroit Pistons ends a six-Game 1 losing streak by Detroit in best-of-7 NBA playoff Game 1s. Leading a best-of-7 NBA playoff series 1-game-nil, the Detroit Pistons have won twelve of their last thirteen such series; the sole loss over that time occurred in series 1017, in the 2007 NBA Semifinals round, to the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Pre-series assessment: In the 2025-26 NBA regular season, the Detroit Pistons finished eight games ahead of the Cleveland Cavaliers. From 1947 through the 2026 NBA Preliminary round, when NBA teams led their best-of-7 playoff series opponents by eight regular-season games, they have posted a best-of-7 playoff series record of 28-8 (.778) in those series against those opponents. Best-of-7 MLB/NBA/NHL playoff series 1640 is the 46th best-of-7 NBA playoff series for the Detroit Pistons, and the 41st for the Cleveland Cavaliers. In best-of-7 NBA playoff series, the Detroit Pistons have an all-rounds series record of 26-19, a Quarterfinals-round series record of 11-5 (with an active six-series winning streak in the NBA Quarterfinals), and a Game 1 record of 25-20 (with an active six-Game 1 losing streak), while the Cleveland Cavaliers have an all-rounds series record of 26-14, a Quarterfinals-round series record of 8-6, and a Game 1 record of 21-19. Series 1640 is the fifth best-of-7 NBA playoff series meeting between the Detroit Pistons and the Cleveland Cavaliers. The Cleveland Cavaliers defeated the Detroit Pistons in three of their four previous best-of-7 NBA playoff series meetings. The Detroit Pistons posted best-of-7 NBA Quarterfinals-round playoff series victories in each of the 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, and 2008 NBA Quarterfinals rounds. In their last seven best-of-7 NBA playoff series, the Cleveland Cavaliers have seen their Game 1 outcome presage their series outcome (three wins, four losses).