Tuesday 5/29

Cleveland v Detroit (tied 2-2) – The Cavaliers capitalized on another outstanding 4th quarter performance by LeBron James to even this series up and make it a best of three affair. James scored 13 of his 25 points (4-6 FG & 5-5 FT), grabbed 4 of his 7 boards and dished 3 of his 11 assist in the 4th. Wow, he did have some help though. Drew Gooden dropped 7 of his 19 points in the final stanza and chipped in 8 total rebounds taboot. It’s hard to ever say that losing a starter in the Conference Finals is a good thing, but in the case of Larry Hughes (torn plantar fascia left foot), it might be. Rookie Daniel Gibson scored a career high 21 points and was 12-12 from the free throw line filling in for Hughes. “Boobie’s” quickness off the dribble is definitely giving the Piston guards grief. (Told ya so…)

I’m starting to think that Detroit is lucky to be at 2-2 in this series. Think about it, all the Pistons really have going for them is that they’ve outscored Cleveland 87 to 58 combined in the 3rd quarters. After that, then what? Detroit has looked shaky during crunch time in every game and doesn’t have anybody performing at a consistently high level. The Pistons also have yet to display any kind of indication that they are close to figuring out the Cavs defense.

I know I picked Detroit to win in six, but it’s looking to me like we may be seeing a changing of the guard in the East a season sooner than expected because the Pistons seem to be running out of gas for the second consecutive post season. There’s no doubt that Detroit will come out on fire Thursday night, but I wonder if their best is even good enough anymore? Even though Cleveland has looked very shaky at times, if the Cavs can weather the Pistons initial burst in Game 5, I think LeBron and his boys can get the job done down the stretch once again