Donovan Mitchell tied an NBA playoff record by scoring 39 points in the second half, and the Cleveland Cavaliers defended home court with a 112-103 win over the Detroit Pistons on Monday, tying their Eastern conference semifinal series at two games apiece.

Mitchell, who missed his first six shots and had just one point with three minutes remaining in the second quarter, finished with 43 points for his eighth career postseason game scoring 40 or more.

Mitchell was the catalyst for Cleveland opening the third quarter on a 22-0 run. The Cavs also scored the final basket of the first half, making the total run 24-0.

Mitchell tied Eric “Sleepy” Floyd’s 1987 mark for the most points in a single half of a playoff game, shooting 12 of 18 after the half-time break.

The Cavs opened the series with a pair of double-digit losses in Detroit, then won both games in Cleveland to put the pressure back on the East’s top seed.

James Harden, who faced criticism after Game 2, finished Monday’s Game 4 with 24 points, 11 assists and only two turnovers.

Evan Mobley stuffed the stat sheet with 17 points, eight rebounds, five assists, three steals and five blocked shots.

The Pistons shot over 50% from the field but were done in by their 20 turnovers.

Caris LeVert scored a team-high 24 points off the bench. Cade Cunningham had 19 points and six assists.

Game 5 will be in Detroit on Wednesday.

Thunder hold off Lakers to complete sweep

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had 35 points and eight assists, Ajay Mitchell scored 28 points, and the Oklahoma City Thunder executed down the stretch to beat the Los Angeles Lakers 115-110 to complete their second-round sweep and advance to the Western Conference finals.

The Thunder became the first team since 2017 to open the postseason 8-0 (Warriors and Cavaliers) as they seek to defend their NBA title.

The Lakers led 84-80 after three quarters, as Oklahoma City faced a fourth-quarter deficit for the first time in these playoffs, but the Thunder answered the challenge in crunch time.

With 33 seconds remaining, Chet Holmgren rose above traffic for a go-ahead standing dunk. LeBron James then missed a running floater on the other end, and the Lakers were forced to foul.

Los Angeles’ last chance was a deep 3-pointer from Austin Reaves with 10 seconds to go, but the shot missed left.

Holmgren finished with 16 points and nine rebounds, while Jared McCain had 13 points off the bench.

Reaves had 27 points, seven rebounds and five assists for the Lakers but also had eight costly turnovers.

James had 24 points and 12 rebounds as the NBA’s all-time leading scorer enters the offseason with an unknown future as an unrestricted free agent at 41 years old.

The Lakers find themselves at their own crossroads, with a decision to be made about James and the ongoing effort to build a team around Luka Dončić, who did not play this postseason due to a hamstring injury.