Both teams had to withstand punches thrown their way on Friday night. The Thunder came out of the gates strong, but a massive run from Detroit that spanned the second and third quarters forced the resilient Thunder to dig deep defensively to put itself back within striking distance in the final moments.
After Detroit jumped out to an early start to take a commanding lead back on April 5, the Thunder took that as a lesson for how it needs to come out against the young, physical Pistons group. With that in mind, the Thunder took control early in Motor City behind a strong defensive effort that held the Pistons to just 33-percent shooting from the field while swatting away six blocks and snatching away three steals.