Mitchell makes the breakthrough, helping the Cavs reach the conference finals

For Donovan Mitchell, a breakthrough moment has arrived.

He's going to the conference finals for the first time, and the series will begin at Madison Square Garden — a bonus for the native New Yorker.

In his ninth season, Mitchell has reached the NBA's final four.

He and the Cleveland Cavaliers rolled past the Detroit Pistons 125-94 on Sunday night in Game 7 — on the road, no less — of their Eastern Conference semifinal series.

Their reward is a trip to New York for Game 1 of the East finals against the Knicks on Tuesday.

Mitchell had 26 points, seven rebounds and eight assists in Sunday's romp. And, when his night was over with 4:01 remaining, he had handshakes and hugs for anyone wearing Cleveland colors.

He leaned down to wrap his arms around a seated Cavs coach Kenny Atkinson, who said before the game that he wanted Mitchell to be himself in Game 7.

The result?

"It was better than Donovan Mitchell," Atkinson said. "Is that possible? It started with him, his defense, rebounding, and then when he gets in the paint and starts making other people better, you know, the dishes to our big guys, that was the key, I felt like, to the game. He had complete control of the game."

Mitchell was brought to Cleveland in September 2022 in a trade with Utah, with the Cavaliers betting — correctly, it turned out — that he would be the last piece of their post-LeBron James rebuild and help them return to the playoffs.

They got to the first round in 2023, then lost in the second round in 2024 and 2025. This year, the conference finals await after the third-biggest road win a team has ever had in a Game 7.

Mitchell has been an All-Star in each of the last seven seasons, was one of eight players to receive at least one vote in this year's MVP balloting and will likely be an All-NBA pick for the third time.

But there was a void — the deep playoff run.

Not anymore.

"Couldn't be happier for him, to make that next step," Atkinson said."He's going home to New York. He kept this thing together this year when things weren't going great. He was the beacon, the light ... he carried us on the court."

The Cavs' Sam Merrill, who grew up in Utah and was a Jazz fan when Mitchell was there, added: "You're not going to find a guy more happy for him than I am, but I know he wants more. We all want more."

There were so many near-misses for Mitchell along the way. Mitchell's Utah team wasted a 3-1 lead in the 2020 playoff bubble against Denver in the West semifinals, falling in seven games. A year later, the Jazz were up 2-0 in the second round against the Los Angeles Clippers, who ended up winning in six. He got hurt at the same stage against Boston, as that series fell apart for Cleveland in 2024, and last year the Cavaliers went 0-3 at home in the second round against Indiana on the way to a five-game ouster.

He was part of a No 1 seed in 2021, part of a No 1 seed again last year, and never got out of the second round. Until now.

Jarrett Allen and Merrill each added 23, as the fourth-seeded Cavaliers ousted the East's top seed to set up the series with the third-seeded New York Knicks.

"We just knew that we had to get the job done. We knew that we had to bring a lot of force," said Allen. "It's a tough arena to win in, but we knew that every single possession, every single play was super important."

Evan Mobley had 21 points and 12 rebounds for the Cavaliers, who advanced to the conference finals for the first time since 2018 and the ninth time in team history. It's their deepest run since James' final season with the franchise.

Daniss Jenkins scored 17 points, and Cade Cunningham and Duncan Robinson each finished with 13 for the Pistons, who fell one win shy of their first conference finals appearance since 2008, after forcing the decider with a Game 6 victory on Friday.

The Cavs dictated the pace from the opening tip and never allowed the Pistons to gain traction, then blew open a convincing Game 7 performance when Mitchell scored 15 in the third quarter.

Detroit was outscored in the paint 58-34 and made only 35.3 percent of its field goal attempts, compared to Cleveland's 50.6 percent.

Cleveland capitalized on cold shooting by the Pistons in the opening quarter, turning missed shots into transition baskets, while building an early advantage. The Cavs led 31-22 going to the second, and after Detroit had the first two baskets, Cleveland quickly seized control with a 24-9 run. The Pistons' offensive struggles only deepened and the Cavs continued to shoot efficiently as they built a commanding 64-47 lead into halftime.

The Cavs kept rolling in the second half and led by as many as 35 points. The closest the Pistons were able to get in the half was within 17 in the third quarter.