Sunday 5/27

Cleveland v Detroit (Pistons up 2-1) – LeBron James and the Cavaliers finally got over the hump and held on to win one against an aging-before-our-eyes Detroit squad. James scored 12 of his 32 points in the 4th quarter and had a hand in 12 of Cleveland’s final 14 points (either by assisting on or making the basket). Bron did have help from his supporting cast which fed off the home crowd’s energy. Zydrunas Ilgauskas (16 points), Sasha Pavlovic (13) and Drew Gooden (12) all played well, but it was rookie Daniel Gibson (9) who came up the biggest. “Boobie” made a huge three and had a key steal in the final 4:26 of his career playoff high 29 minutes filling in for Larry Hughes (sprained left foot).

As for the Pistons, Chauncey Billups continues to disappoint with his shooting (12-27, 44.4%), play making (4.7 assists per game) and decision making (5.7 turnovers per game). This is not exactly the way for “Mr. Big Shot” to make money heading into free agency. Anyway, after a sizzling Game 1 (11-21 FG) Richard Hamilton has joined Billups by shooting an icy 31.8% (7-22) from the field. I’m willing to give Tayshaun Prince (7-32, 21.9%) a pass because his primary objective is to guard LeBron.

It’s easy to say that Detroit is just missing shots, but I think it’s well past time to give the Cavs credit for being the better defensive club of the two. Not to mention that Cleveland is also the more athletic and deeper unit as well. I’m sure the Pistons will have their “energy” up on Tuesday night, but unless they can figure out a way to crack the Cavs D it won’t matter. Hughes’ foot is a lingering question for Cleveland, but as long as they play smart in crunch time the Cavs should be fine.