Pistons 79, Cavaliers 76
May 21, 2007
AUBURN HILLS -- LeBron James might have deferred to his teammates one too many times.
James drove and dished to Donyell Marshall who missed a wide-open a 3-pointer with 5.9 seconds left that allowed the Detroit Pistons to escape with a 79-76 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Monday night in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals.
Chauncey Billups chased down the long rebound of Marshall's miss from the corner, and he later made one of two free throws with 2.4 seconds left. James was scoreless in the first quarter and finished with a playoff-low 10 points, on 5-of-15 shooting, 10 rebounds and fell just short of a triple-double with nine assists.
Billups scored 10 of his 13 points in the final quarter, including a 3-pointer that gave the Pistons a 78-76 lead with 1:52 left. Detroit's Richard Hamilton scored 24 points and had seven assists, while Rasheed Wallace had 15 points and 12 rebounds and Chris Webber scored 10 points. Tayshaun Prince added eight points, nine assists and chest-to-chest defense on James.
"That's a play we didn't want to happen," Hamilton said. "We wanted everybody to stay home but Lebron goes to the basket and draws so much attention. Donyell just missed.
" Zydrunas Ilgauskas had 22 points and 13 rebounds for the Cavs, taking advantage of James' pass-first strategy. Larry Hughes and reserve Anderson Varejao each scored 13 points. James, whose previous playoff low was 18 points, was outscored by five of his teammates until he made two straight shots toward the end of the third quarter.
"We've just got to be aggressive and know where he is at all times on the floor," Hamilton said of James. "Our guys did a great job of helping out. If he makes the pass and they score we'll live with it.
" For the fifth straight year, Detroit is among the NBA's final four and its experience seemed to help. Just when it seemed that the Pistons had control, the Cavs showed plenty of resolve in the back-and-forth quarter. Notes: Faces in the crowd included several Detroit Tigers, including Ivan Rodriguez and Gary Sheffield, along with Atlanta Hawks guard Tyronn Lue, one of Billups' best friends.
...
Webber had a strong third quarter after leaving the game in the first quarter with two fouls.
Detroit did play poorly and as they often do, they appeared disinterested at times. Not sure if it really matters, but I do know one thing.
They will need to turn it WAY UP if they make it to the finals...
.and that is a pretty big if at this point.
Posted: Tue May 22, 2007 1:08 am
The Cavs actually do play some pretty good defense, something most teams in the East do not do.
And I only counted 1 Varejao flop. That charge he took against Delfino, I'll give that to him as a legit call. Barely.
And what was with Tayshaun tripping over himself 3 or 4 times?
Rasheed and Billups hit some absolutely clutch shots at the end of the game. One miss and the end may be different.
Especially since the big Z didn't seem to miss ever, except on his last shot.
I wouldn't be surprised if nobody outside of MI and OH even watched this game. It was painful.
I think the fans will be ready on Thursday. With the excitement of a long weekend, why not start the party Thursday night?
Posted: Tue May 22, 2007 12:25 am
Relax it was game 1 and we took care of game 1.
The Pistons played bad and won. Relax.
Posted: Tue May 22, 2007 12:14 am
Fire or not the Pistons will still smoke the cav's.
We played a poor game and still won. No worries, Mr. Big shot will be there when we need him (which was clearly not tonight).
And those who would bash Roscoe, please just feed Rasheed, he will shine against vareho, snoring z, or drew not so gooden, so relax and enjoy watching Detroit win in five. 
Posted: Mon May 21, 2007 11:43 pm
I was thinking the same thing about Sheed after it happened. Ridiculous.
But if we can play that bad and still win, we're in good shape.
And since someone has to say it, I will. Cleveland is and always will be The Mistake on the Lake .
Every sport, every year.
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