Cavs Lose Game 2 in Detroit, Cleveland's Piano Man: CLE Daily

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🏀 Cavs Scores: Detroit Pistons 107, Cleveland Cavaliers 97; Pistons lead series 2-0.

🎶 May Playlist: 30 New Songs By Greater Cleveland Musicians.

🔗 Who Knew? There is real intrigue in card collecting, from a $2.1 million heist to super-secure buildings to the fun of opening a pack.

ICYMI: Developers are eyeing a three-building, 150-megawatt campus between Slavic Village and the industrial valley, a project that would rank among the region’s largest tech infrastructure investments.

Today's Trivia

What automaker’s estate, called Roseneath, is now the site of a Gold Coast high-rise apartment named for him?

Cavaliers try to rally but fall short in Game 2 loss.

Sports | By Dennis Manaloff

The Cavs dropped Game 2 in another road playoff dud Thursday night, falling 107-97 to the Pistons in Detroit. Cleveland again struggled in the first half and with James Harden faltering again, the Cavs are now down 2-0 in the best-of-seven series. Here are three takeaways:

Road Distress: The Cavs are now 0-5 on the road in this playoff year, and with Detroit holding home-court advantage, don't expect the Cavs to pull this one off.

Bad Start: The Cavaliers played a bad first quarter, eventually worked their way back to a short-lived lead in the fourth quarter before running out of gas. The Pistons are the better team and they are better coached.

Hard to Take: Jame Harden had more turnovers than field goals. He was a disaster. That is 46 times in his playoff career where he had more turnovers than made shots.

Watch Dennis's recap video on Game 2.

Cleveland's "Piano Man" will play his 7,000th show at a Downtown bar tonight.

Things to do | By Annie Nickoloff

At 5:30 p.m. on Friday, Mike Petrone will perform his 7,000th show at Johnny's Downtown while singing along with regulars and special guests. The pianist is known for his hometown performances, playing classic songs on weeknights at the Downtown bar since it opened in 1993.

Mike Petrone: “Talk about a Cleveland institution. The fact that they've stuck with me that long — I'm just so grateful. You don't expect those kinds of things. It's a family business, and I appreciate them having me a part of the family.”

• Most Interesting Pianist: Cleveland Magazine previously featured Petrone in our 2025 Most Interesting People feature. There, Petrone spoke about his early upbringing learning music with his siblings and performing live with his family for televised Mr. Jingeling shows when he was just 10 years old.

• Johnny's Favorites: If you’re hoping to catch one of Petrone’s performances at Johnny’s, he recommends a few dishes to try off the restaurant’s menu — the veal chop ($72.95), potato-crusted grouper ($40.95) or, a personal favorite, the veal-stuffed peppers ($18.95). (“People drive 100 miles for those, and I would, too,” he says. “I love them.”)

Read more about Petrone's achievement at clevelandmagazine.com.

Talk of the Town

Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost is expected to resign from his position as attorney general and will take a private-sector job, sources told the Ohio Capital Journal. The “surprise move” was first reported by the Columbus Dispatch.

For those making the trip to Cedar Point this year, there will be a slight change in the route to get there. The City of Sandusky is set to open its first roundabout on Friday. Crews have been working for a little over two months at the intersection of Cleveland Road and Cedar Point Drive. In that time, crews have transformed the three-way intersection into a roundabout. 

Pro wrestling fans can start to get tickets on May 15 for WWE Friday Night Smackdown that is coming back to Rocket Arena on Friday, August 28. Cody Rhodes, Randy Orton and Drew McIntyre are just some of the stars expected to be in Cleveland.

Bomb scares strike four local high schools. The Northeast Ohio school districts that received bomb threats on Thursday included: Alliance City School District, Amherst Exempted Village Schools, Lorain City School District and Shaker Heights School District.

The Port of Cleveland Board approved financing initiatives, supporting two Northeast Ohio development projects. One was financing approval for Cosm, an $86.5 million immersive entertainment and technology venue planned for Downtown Cleveland near Rocket Arena and East 4th Street. The other approval is tied to Phase 1B of the $285 million Belle Oaks Marketplace redevelopment in Richmond Heights.

Yesterday's Trivia Answer 

Clevelander Herbert Birch Kingston is credited for starting what fall holiday, which your friends in Pennsylvania have never heard of? Sweetest Day

Check back tomorrow for the answer to today's question.

From The Editor

"We all think of our careers as something that we have to elevate, or we have to move somewhere, we have to do something to get greater; this or that," Mike Petrone told me. "But apparently, I really just liked it.” ("It" being piano-playing at Johnny's Downtown.)

Anniversaries, birthdays or career milestones can make anyone reflective, particularly when you start reaching things like 7,000 shows at one venue. (What an achievement for Mike Petrone!)

His 7,000 shows, after all, started out with one show. Then, two. And so on.

On my end, I've been reflecting on a small anniversary of my own: 10 years of working as a professional journalist, as of this summer. It started out as one story. Then, two.

Both 10 years ago and today, it's exciting to be doing this work in my hometown and for Cleveland Magazine. Thank you for reading.