DETROIT -- Cleveland Cavaliers head coach John Beilein did his best to heal a self-inflicted wound early Thursday morning. His players did their part hours later.

Trailing for a majority of the game, by double digits for a large chunk, the Cavaliers rallied to beat the Detroit Pistons in overtime, 115-112.

With questions swirling about whether the Cavs would play hard for Beilein, if they could move forward as a group with the same level of buy-in following his verbal mistake, Cleveland overcame a sluggish start and fought hard, using a second-half surge to stun the Pistons, who were playing back home for the first time in 2020.

“I did not doubt that at all," Beilein said when asked about still having his players’ support. "I know these guys want to play. They’ve had really good practices and I think the last month, even though we haven’t had the wins we would like to have, we’ve been really playing hard, more together and learning. I think they’ve embraced that. Usually in a college locker room everyone is jumping around and pro locker room everyone is chilling after a win. That locker room is hopping around right now. Everybody was really excited. If they’re excited then the coaching staff is excited. We want to have fun. The way you have fun is to win. We won tonight and it was a whole lot of fun.”

The Cavs trailed by as much as 13 at one point. And kept fighting. They took their second lead under the eight-minute mark of the fourth quarter. They gave up that advantage quickly and looked buried with about three minutes left in regulation. And kept fighting. They tied the game at 100 with 2:01 remaining and capped an 8-0 spurt with a Tristan Thompson dunk.

Even though the next few offensive possessions were reminiscent of so many other late-game failures -- the reason for Wednesday’s lengthy film session where Beilein caught many off guard with his verbiage, accidentally calling his players “thugs” instead of “slugs" -- the Cavs stepped up on the defensive end and Thompson drained a pair of free throws to tie matters at 102 with 24.5 seconds left.

The following possession, Beilein subbed in Alfonzo McKinnie, who was brought back on a 10-day contract Thursday morning after being released on Jan. 6. McKinnie used his size, length and quickness to stifle Derrick Rose. No go-ahead jumper for the 2011 MVP this time. His off-balance shot was heavily contested and the game went into overtime.

It looked again like the Pistons recovered, using Rose to relentlessly attack undersized rookie point guard Darius Garland. Detroit went ahead by four with 1:59 remaining. And yet, the Cavs kept fighting. For Beilein. For themselves. For that elusive 11th win of the season.

The Cavs went on a 9-0 run, punctuating a much-needed victory with a two-handed Thompson dunk.

“We’re behind him 100 percent,” Garland said. “I mean, he’s trying to win just like we are. We’re all collectively trying to win, and that’s our mindset.”

In the face of chaos, Thompson, one of the team leaders, scored a career-high 35 points to go with 14 rebounds. Kevin Love, who spoke in support of Beilein earlier in the day, drained a clutch 3-pointer late in overtime. Love finished with 17 points and nine rebounds.

“I think we just showed grit. I think we got down maybe 13 or 14 points and just never let ourselves get out of it," Love said. "Thought Darius showed a lot of poise and there were a couple times he really, really scored the ball well and. I think he had eight straight for us at one point for us and hit a bunch of big shots. Had that one in overtime where he had that scoop shot for us. A lot of people made big plays, but Tristan was the guy -- held it down all night. Career night for him. Unbelievable and that was why afterwards we were tossing water on him and having fun with it. Good, big road win for us, first of 2020 and I guess on this road trip. It felt good.”

Garland added 20 points and seven assists. Collin Sexton chipped in with 19.

Thursday morning began with an emotional apology from Beilein. It ended with a jubilant celebration in that same building.

“Everybody says the wrong word sometimes, but he was with us tonight and we played for him and we knew this was going to be a good win for him,” Sexton said after the game. “He was excited afterwards. We told him we were gonna go out there and get a win. It felt good to get a win for the team as well as Coach, showing that we with him, regardless, we with him."

Players who spoke about the issue throughout the day all said the same thing: Winning is the quickest way to get past controversy. For one night, the Cavs put everything behind them, overcame the battle within and moved forward as one.

Up next

The Cavs will continue their six-game road trip on Saturday night against the Denver Nuggets. Tipoff is set for 9 p.m.

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