CAVS DEFEAT PISTONS TO OPEN UP 3-0 SERIES LEAD

After facing a fairly competitive effort from the host Detroit Pistons on Friday night, the Cleveland Cavaliers used a 26-15 fourth quarter advantage to emerge victorious in game three of their opening round NBA playoff series 79-68.  Cleveland was able to prevail in a low scoring game due to their tenacious defense, which limited Detroit to just 38% shooting from the field.  Cleveland can now close out the series in Detroit on Sunday afternoon.

LeBron James basically did it all for Cleveland, falling a single assist shy of a ‘triple double’.  LeBron scored 25 points to lead all scorers, hauled in 11 rebounds, dished out 9 assists and had 3 steals and 2 blocked shots.  Reserve forward Joe Smith went for a ‘double/double’ with 19 points and 10 rebounds, while Zydrunas Ilgauskas was the only other Cavs player to score in double digits with 16 points.  Detroit’s offense was even more limited, however, with Richard Hamilton’s 15 points and Rodney Stuckey’s 12 the only Piston double digit scoring performances. The always quick witted James had a great one-liner to explain why he fell one assist short of a ‘triple double’:

"When I got to the locker room, I blamed Mo Williams.”

Midway through the third quarter LeBron was more concerned about the officiating, and specifically their hesitancy to call fouls.    By the start of the fourth quarter instead of continuing to whine he behaved like a champion and raised the level of his game.   Cavs coach Mike Brown said in his postgame comments that he could see it happening:

"Once he decided to say, `Hey, I'm not getting calls. I'm going to will this team to a win,' our whole team changed. Watching him flip that switch, it was very exciting. I just get a rush thinking about it."

LeBron scored 11 of his 25 points after ‘flipping the switch’ in the fourth quarter, and with the game tied the Cavs went on a 18-2 run to seal the victory.  Detroit coach Michael Curry said of LeBron’s heroics simply:

“Big-time players make plays, and that's what he did”

The Pistons now face a monumental task in game four—even if they are able to win at home and stave off elimination that only gets them a trip back to Cleveland where the Cavs posted the best home record in the league this season.  Plus, there’s always the specter of history hanging over Detroit knowing that no team in NBA history has ever come back from an 0-3 deficit to win a series.  Clearly, the 85 teams that faced the situation before the 2008-2009 Detroit Pistons had an easier task than trying to win four straight against the league’s best regular season team.

Detroit has advanced to at least the conference finals in each of the previous six seasons—which is the longest such streak since the Magic Johnson/Kareem Abdul Jabbar era LA Lakers.  With the weight of history and the Cleveland Cavaliers in their way, the end of that run is almost a fait accompli.