CAVS HEADING FOR SWEEP

 

(Image taken from NBA.com)

 

In the East, the Cavs vs Pistons matchup was certainly one of the more curious contest of the 2009 NBA playoffs first round. The two sides certainly have enough history with each other, and had matched up in the Eastern Conference Finals before. This time around though, even with the addition of Allen Iversen which you'd have thought would improve things, the Pistons scraped into the playoffs by the skin of their teeth, the only playoff team with a losing record in the regular season. And Games 1 and 2 in Cleveland didn't exactly remove the impression that the Pistons were just there to make up the numbers this time around. With the series now heading to Detroit for Game 3, the 2004 NBA champions had to sort things out.

Well in the first quarter, the Pistons certainly reminded the Cavs whose house they were in. The series leaders failed to score for the first two and a half minutes and in that time the home team built up an 8-0 lead. Even once they started scoring the Cavs look like they'd struggle this time around. In the latter stages the Cavs started to come close but the Pistons always had an answer(well they had The Answer) and a sweep was looking unlikely. The Cavs eventually managed to tie the game with over two minutes on the clock at 16 and at the buzzer the game was tied at 18. Tayshaun Prince led the Pistons with 7 points, Zydrunas Ilgauskas the Cavs with 8.

The Pistons kept their form going into the second quarter, and were leading 26-20 a minute into proceedings. Despite the Pistons tough defence, the Cavs did manage to come close, getting within shooting distance of their opponents on two occasions in the early stages, eventually taking the lead for the first time in the match with 6:34 on the clock. The two sides duelled for a while but the Cavs went into the last few minutes of the half with a clear lead. There was nothing the Pistons could do about things before half time and the Cavs lead 44-37 at the buzzer with LeBron having now found his form, leading the way for his team on 12 points.

In the third quarter, the Pistons did what their fans would say they do best, smother the opposition. The Cavs did lead 46-39 less than a minute in but that was a precursor to a gamewide drought of over two minutes - once again "Deeetroiiit basketballlll" = zzzzzzz. Well the Pistons used their tactics to slowly eat into the Cavs lead(the Cavs drought lasted over six minutes!) and went on to take the lead with less than five minutes on the clock, going on to lead 49-46. The Cavs finally got their act together and looked to have turned the game round again with less than two minutes on the clock but the Pistons came back to tie the game at 53. Richard Hamilton led the Pistons with 13 points, LeBron lead the Cavs on 14, backed up by guard Joe Smith from the bench with 10.

Well the Pistons did hit an early three points to lead 56-55 early on in the fourth but that was as good as it got for the home side. This was the time when the Cavs finally took over. The Pistons did manage to tie the game one last time but after that it was if they had simply run out of fuel. The Cavs got their first double digit lead of the night with five minutes remaining in the game. They went on to come pretty close to getting a tenty point lead. The Pistons managed to do enough to prevent a blowout, but still, the Cavs won it 79-68. LeBron led the way with 25 points, Smith backed him up on 19, Ilgauskas providing further back up with 13 points and Daniel Gibson showing that he's still around on 9 points.

Elsewhere, the Celtics beat the Bulls 107-86 in Chicago to retake homecourt advantage in this series, leading 2-1 after three games. The Sixers beat the Magic 96-94 in Philadelphia, leaving them 2-1 up in the series and the Magic in deep trouble. The Heat beat the Hawks 107-78 in Miami to turn around that series which they now lead 2-1. Out West, the Jazz beat the Lakers 86-84 in Utah to buy themselves some more time though the Lakers still led that series 2-1 after three games. The Hornets saved their bacon by beating the Nuggets 95-93 in Denver though the Nuggets still lead the series 2-1. The Mavs beat the Spurs 88-67 in Dalls to retake the lead to the tune of 2-1 and that leaves the Spurs in trouble. Likewise the Rockets beat the Blazers 96-93 in Houston to take a 2-1 series lead.

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