Game 7s have been kind to Cavaliers, Pistons over the years. But one will fall on Sunday

Game 7. That's a phrase that surely brings back a lot of good memories for fans of the Cleveland Cavaliers and Detroit Pistons.

Of course, only one of those groups will be happy on Sunday night.

For the second consecutive round, the Cavaliers and Pistons are heading to a winner-take-all contest. Detroit plays host to Cleveland on Sunday night in Game 7 of their Eastern Conference semifinal series, with the winner set to face New York in the East finals starting Tuesday.

Detroit is 6-1 in Game 7s since 1990, while Cleveland is 5-0 in Game 7s since 2016 — with two of those wins coming in road games.

“I’ve seen this movie before,” Cavaliers coach Kenny Atkinson said. “It’s tough. It’s hard. And it should be hard. The good thing is we’ve put ourselves in a position to have a Game 7. But this is what it’s about. Playoffs are hard. We’ve got to close it out in Game 7.”

Cleveland's seven-game win in Round 1 this season was over Toronto; Detroit's seven-game win in Round 1 this season was over Orlando. The Cavaliers and Pistons both got to be at home for those games; Cleveland doesn't have that luxury this time around.

The Cavs won Game 5 in Detroit to take command — albeit briefly — of the series, then lost 115-94 with a chance to close out the series at home on Friday. So, back to Detroit they go.

“It’s one game on the road. There’s no other way to put it,” Cavaliers guard James Harden said. “You’ve got to be detailed, you’ve got to get off for a really good start, and you’ve got to maintain and sustain it for an entire game, however long that takes. It really is just one game. Not saying you’ve got to be perfect, but we’ve got to do the details that we’ve been preaching.”

The Pistons are now 4-0 this season when facing elimination after Friday's victory. They won four elimination games — total — in the last 20 seasons combined, though in fairness most of those years came and went without Detroit even making the playoffs.

But this team is different. A 14-win laughingstock of a club two seasons ago held the No. 1 seed in the East for almost this entire season, and a sense of poise seems to have grown from that success.

“We stay in the moment,” Pistons guard Cade Cunningham said. “We don't get ahead of ourselves. But most importantly, we stick together. When things get ugly or whatever, we come together, we talk, we get back in the moment and then we move forward from there.”

Added Pistons coach J.B. Bickerstaff: "They just don't quit. The resolve that they have, the belief that they have in one another, they just have the ability to bounce back mentally where they don't hang onto things. Quarters don't bother them. Halves don't bother them. They just move on to the next play, stay moment to moment and try to win what's in front of them.”

Sunday's winner will be the sixth team in this playoff format (the NBA began using best-of-seven series in Round 1 in 2003) to advance to the conference finals after winning Game 7s in both Round 1 and Round 2.

The others:

— Dallas, 2003

The Mavs went 60-22 in the 2002-03 season and were the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference playoffs. They beat Portland 4-3 in Round 1, Sacramento 4-3 in Round 2, but fell in six games to San Antonio in the West finals.

— Phoenix, 2006

The Suns went 54-28 in the 2005-06 season and were the No. 2 seed in the West. They beat the Lakers 4-3 in Round 1, the Clippers 4-3 in Round 2, but fell in six games to Dallas in the West finals.

— Boston, 2008

The Celtics won the NBA title in 2007-08 the hard — really hard — way. Boston went 66-16 to grab the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs, then needed seven games to topple both Atlanta in Round 1 and Cleveland in Round 2. The Celtics beat Detroit in six games to win the East finals, then beat the Lakers in six games in the NBA Finals.

Toronto, 2016

The Raptors went 56-26 in 2015-16 and were the No. 2 seed in the East. They needed seven games to beat Indiana in Round 1 and Miami in Round 2, then lost in six games to Cleveland in the East finals.

Denver, 2020

In the bubble season the Nuggets finished 46-27 to grab the West's No. 3 seed. They beat Utah 4-3 in Round 1, the Clippers 4-3 in Round 2 — rallying from 3-1 down in both of those series — then lost to the Lakers 4-1 in the West finals.

AP NBA: https://apnews.com/nba

Cleveland Cavaliers' James Harden (1) shoots as Detroit Pistons' Caris LeVert (8) defends in the second half of Game 6 of a second-round NBA basketball playoffs series Friday, May 15, 2026, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)

Detroit Pistons guard Cade Cunningham, right, shoots past Cleveland Cavaliers center Evan Mobley, left, in the second half of Game 6 of a second-round NBA basketball playoffs series Friday, May 15, 2026, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)

Cleveland Cavaliers head coach Kenny Atkinson shouts in the first half of Game 6 of a second-round NBA basketball playoffs series against the Detroit Pistons Friday, May 15, 2026, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)

Cleveland Cavaliers guard Max Strus (2) gestures as he comes back into the game in the second half of Game 6 of a second-round NBA basketball playoffs series against the Cleveland Cavaliers, Friday, May 15, 2026, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)

Detroit Pistons' Ausar Thompson, left, and Cleveland Cavalirs' Max Strus, center, reach for the ball over Caris LeVert, right, in the first half of Game 6 of a second-round NBA basketball playoffs series Friday, May 15, 2026, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)

NEW YORK (AP) — North America’s largest commuter rail system was shut down Saturday after unionized workers in the New York City area went on strike.

The Long Island Rail Road that serves the city's eastern suburbs ceased operations early Saturday morning after five unions representing about half its workforce walked off the job.

The two sides have been negotiating for months on a new contract, and President Donald Trump’s administration had even interceded to try and broker a deal. But the unions were legally allowed to strike starting at 12:01 a.m. Saturday.

Kevin Sexton of the National Vice President of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen said no new negotiations have been scheduled.

“We’re far apart at this point,” Sexton said early Saturday. “We are truly sorry that we are in this situation.”

Janno Lieber, the MTA chairman, said the agency “gave the union everything they said they wanted in terms of pay” and that to him it was apparent the unions always intended to walk out.

The walkout, the first for the LIRR since a two-day strike in 1994, promises to cause headaches for some sports fans planning to see the crosstown baseball rivals the New York Yankees and Mets battle this weekend or to watch the NBA’s New York Knicks playoff run at Madison Square Garden in Manhattan. Both sports venues have dedicated LIRR stops.

If the shutdown continues past the weekend, the roughly 250,000 people who ride the system to and from work each weekday will be forced to find alternative routes into New York City from its Long Island suburbs.

For many, that likely means navigating the region’s notoriously congested roads.

“People are still going to commute, but if everybody starts driving now, the traffic is only going to get worse,” said Rich Piccola, an accountant who commutes into the city as he waited at Penn Station for a train home Thursday.

Gov. Kathy Hochul is urging Long Islanders to work from home if possible. The MTA has said it will provide limited shuttle buses to New York City subway stations, but that contingency plan wasn't envisioned to handle all the riders the system normally carries on a workday.

And while remote work options greatly expanded during the COVID-19 pandemic, many workers still need to show up in person, said Lisa Daglian, executive director of the Permanent Citizens Advisory Committee to the MTA, a commuter advocacy group.

“You work in construction, you work in the healthcare industry, you work at a school or you’re about to graduate from school, that’s not always possible,” she said of telecommuting. “People need to get where they need to go.”

The most recent contract talks have stalled on the question of worker’s salaries and health care premiums.

The MTA has said the unions’ initial demands would have led to fare increases and impacted contract negotiations with other unionized workers.

The unions, which represent locomotive engineers, machinists, signalmen and other train workers, have said more substantial raises were warranted to help workers keep up with inflation and rising living costs.

Duane O’Connor, who was picketing on Saturday morning at Penn Station, said that while he regrets the impact on commuters, workers are simply asking for fair wages.

“I feel terrible. Terrible. This is going to hurt. This is going to hurt the island, this is going to hurt the city ... All we are asking for is fair wages. Record inflation the last few years. Our contract goes back three years, it’s not going forward, so we went through those record inflationary years and they’re trying to lowball us,” he said.

Some riders, while sympathetic to the union’s affordability concerns, worry they’ll bear the brunt of any pay raises.

If the unions get the pay increases they are looking for, "it will come at the expense of our riders who will see next year’s 4% fare increase doubled to 8%,” Gerard Bringmann, chair of the LIRR Commuter Council, a rider advocacy group, said in a statement. “Like the union workers, we too are burdened by the increase in the cost of living here on Long Island.”

With Hochul, a Democrat, facing reelection later this year, the pressure might be on the MTA to strike a deal to end the shutdown, said William Dwyer, a labor relations expert at Rutgers University in New Jersey, where commuter rail workers staged a three-day strike last year.

“She’s up for reelection, and Long Island is a critical vote for her,” he said. “So if there’s a significant fare hike, that does not bode well for her on Election Day.”

Follow Philip Marcelo at https://x.com/philmarcelo

Long Island Rail Road workers walk on the picket line outside of Penn Station on the first day of their strike, Saturday, May 16, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Heather Khalifa)

Service suspended signs are posted inside Penn Station on the first day of a Long Island Rail Road strike, Saturday, May 16, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Heather Khalifa)

Service suspended signs are posted inside Penn Station on the first day of a Long Island Rail Road strike, Saturday, May 16, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Heather Khalifa)

Service suspended signs are posted inside Penn Station on the first day of a Long Island Rail Road strike, Saturday, May 16, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Heather Khalifa)

A pedestrian walks past closed off tracks inside Penn Station on the first day of a Long Island Rail Road strike, Saturday, May 16, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Heather Khalifa)

A sign warns commuters of a potential Long Island Rail Road strike at Penn Station in New York, Thursday, May 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

A sign warns commuters of a potential Long Island Rail Road strike at Penn Station in New York, Thursday, May 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

A sign warns commuters of a potential Long Island Rail Road strike at Penn Station in New York, Thursday, May 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)