Harden goes clutch, Mitchell drops 35 as Cavs beat Pistons 116-109 in Game 3

Cleveland was down 0-2 and the noise was loud. Then James Harden remembered what he is.

Harden hit three clutch shots in the final two minutes Saturday, Donovan Mitchell scored 35, and the Cavaliers held off the Pistons 116-109 in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference semifinals. Detroit still leads the series 2-1, but the Cavs got the win they had to have. Mitchell has carried Cleveland through every possession that mattered this round. Harden, who'd looked off in Game 2, picked the right night to flip the switch.

This is the series that's keeping the Pistons' Cinderella run honest. Detroit had been the breakout story of the playoffs — title odds at 15-1, a 2-0 lead on the road, Cade Cunningham looking like a top-five player in the league. But going up 3-0 on a contender is hard. The Cavs reset the math. Game 4 is in Cleveland and the Cavs now have a real path: hold serve, fly back to Detroit at 2-2, and you have a series.