Why Ausar Thompson wasn't ejected from Game 6 for slamming Sam Merrill to floor

CLEVELAND — The Detroit Pistons have found something on defense over the last two games of their Eastern Conference semifinal series against the Cleveland Cavaliers, but they nearly lost one of two key ingredients in the second quarter Friday.With 8:04 left before halftime of the Pistons’ 115-94 win over Cleveland in Game 6, Detroit’s Ausar Thompson, who has been freed up to hound Donovan Mitchell defensively by the emergence of teammate Daniss Jenkins, was trying to fight through a screen set by Cleveland’s Sam Merrill. He initially appeared to have gone through Merrill, like a linebacker blowing up a blocking back, and then stepped over Merrill for effect.Advertisement