Inside the Cavs' 23-0 3rd-quarter run that set an all-time franchise record
Cleveland couldn't have caught more fire.
Inside the Cavs' 23-0 3rd-quarter run that set an all-time franchise record originally appeared on The Sporting News . Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here . The Cleveland Cavaliers left the halftime locker room facing a four-point deficit to the Detroit Pistons on Monday night.
By the time the Pistons scored again, the Cavs led by 19 points. That's right -- they went on a 23-0 run to start the third quarter. It's the biggest shutout run Cleveland has ever had in the playoffs: Cavs just went on a 23-0 run, their biggest scoring run in the playoffs in the play-by-play era.
— Keerthika Uthayakumar (@keerthikau) May 12, 2026 The run was led by Donovan Mitchell, but all the Cavs were hooping. And clearly, it wasn't just offense. They were crushing the Pistons at both ends of the floor.
MORE: Warriors' Steve Kerr news means it's time to talk about LeBron and Steph How Cavs went on 23-0 run The run started in unassuming fashion, when Mitchell dropped in a little floater to start waking up from his messy first half. Mitchell made another floater to tie it 56-56, and that was an and-1 -- he made the free throw, too. The incumbent star was going now, and he soon drilled a 3-pointer.