The AP reports: LeBron James scored 11 of his 25 points in the fourth quarter, lifting the Cleveland Cavaliers to a 79-68 victory Friday night over Detroit and a 3-0 lead in the first-round series… The Pistons, whose collective heart was questioned by one of their players, played hard for three-plus quarters before being rendered helpless by James… James had 11 rebounds and nine assists. He said he learned he was just short of a triple-double after looking at the stat sheet… Joe Smith had a career playoff-high 19 points and 10 rebounds, and Zydrunas Ilgauskas scored 13 points… Richard Hamilton had 15 points, eight rebounds and six assists, while Rodney Stuckey contributed 12 points and five assists.
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Cavaliers hold off Pistons 94-82, win Game 2
The AP reports: Up by 29 points in the fourth quarter, the Cavaliers blew most of their big lead against Detroit’s reserves and LeBron James had to go back in and restore order as Cleveland held on for a 94-82 win on Tuesday night to take a 2-0 lead in their Eastern Conference playoff series. For three quarters, the Cavs were at their basketball best… James, showing no regard for a defensive plan Detroit spent three days preparing for him, scored 29 and Williams added 21 as the Cavaliers withstood a stirring comeback by the Pistons, who used a 27-5 run to close within seven on Antonio McDyess’ jumper with 3:51 left… Delonte West scored 20 and Zydrunas Ilgauskas 12 for the top-seeded Cavs, who led 79-50 in the first minute of the fourth and were embarrassing the Pistons. But Detroit dug down and gave Cleveland and its raucous crowd a scare the Cavs may never forget… Richard Hamilton scored 17 and Rodney Stuckey 14 for the Pistons, who are going home down 0-2 with their starters searching for positives.
Fans predict first round playoff results
InsideHoops.com posted a poll two days ago asking fans to predict the results of the 2009 NBA playoffs first round.
In the East:
325 fans picked the Cavaliers to beat the Pistons. Just 29 picked Detroit.
321 fans picked the Magic to beat the 76ers. Just 20 picked Philadelphia.
258 fans picked the Celtics to beat the Bulls. 87 picked Chicago.
And in the East’s only fairly close result, 183 fans picked the Heat while 155 picked the Hawks.
As expected, other than the Lakers-Jazz series, the voting was pretty close in the West:
336 fans picked the Lakers to beat the Jazz. Just 17 picked Utah.
241 fans picked the Nuggets to beat the Hornets. 113 picked New Orleans.
224 fans picked the Spurs to beat the Mavericks. 122 picked Dallas.
198 fans picked the Trail Blazers to beat the Rockets. 152 picked Houston.
Cavaliers roll over Pistons, take Game 1
The AP reports: LeBron James banked in a stunning 3-pointer at the end of the first half and finished with 38 points, eight rebounds and seven assists as the Cavaliers embarked on their quest for a first NBA championship with a 102-84 win over the Pistons in Game 1 on Saturday… The likely MVP went 13-of-20 from the field, 11-of-14 from the line and didn’t commit a turnover. Cleveland had only five miscues, a postseason franchise record… Joe Smith scored 13 points and Zydrunas Ilgauskas had 12 and 10 rebounds for the Cavs, who pushed the tempo in the second half and outran the aging Pistons. Rodney Stuckey scored 20 and Hamilton 15 for Detroit, which came in as a No. 8 seed and could be in for a shorter postseason run after making the Eastern Conference finals the past six years.
Rose, Gordon lead Bulls comeback win over Pistons
The AP reports: The Pistons blew another fourth-quarter lead in a 91-88 loss to the Chicago Bulls. The defeat means Detroit (39-42) will face top-seeded Cleveland in the first round of the playoffs… Derrick Rose scored 11 of his 24 points in the fourth quarter, while Ben Gordon added 19. Richard Hamilton led the Pistons with 25 points and Tayshaun Prince added 19… Detroit broke open a tie game with an 8-0 run late in the second quarter, and still held a 56-48 advantage at the intermission.
Pacers stall Pistons quest for higher seed
The AP reports: Danny Granger loves playing the spoiler, especially against the Detroit Pistons. Granger had 24 points and the Indiana Pacers stalled Detroit’s bid for a higher playoff seed with a 106-102 victory Saturday night… The loss to Indiana won’t keep the Pistons out of the playoffs, but it could force them into a first-round matchup with Cleveland, which has the best record in the Eastern Conference. “It really don’t matter to us, to tell you the truth,” said Richard Hamilton, who led Detroit with 23 points… Richard Hamilton led Detroit with 23 points. Brandon Rush had 21 points for the Pacers, while Jack and T.J. Ford added 18 apiece. Prince scored 18 points for Detroit, and Antonio McDyess and Will Bynum each added 16.
Pistons beat Nets 100-93, clinch playoff spot
The AP reports: On Friday, the Pistons got 46 points from their bench and clinched a playoff spot with a 100-93 victory over the New Jersey Nets. “We’re getting better and better every game,” said reserve guard Will Bynum, who led the Pistons with 20 points… New Jersey (32-47) lost for the eighth time in 10 games as coach Lawrence Frank went with a young lineup for much of the game. Rookie Ryan Anderson led the Nets with 20 points, one short of his career high, and fellow first-year players Chris Douglas-Roberts and Brook Lopez had 16 each.
Pistons rout Knicks, move into tie for 7th in East
The AP reports: Richard Hamilton scored 22 points, Rasheed Wallace had 14 points and 12 rebounds, and the Pistons rolled into a tie for seventh place in the Eastern Conference by beating the New York Knicks 113-86 on Wednesday night. Antonio McDyess added 13 points and 16 rebounds for the Pistons, who pulled even with Chicago for the No. 7 seed and lowered their magic number to one to clinch their eighth consecutive playoff berth. Detroit will be back in the postseason with its next victory or one more loss by Charlotte… Tayshaun Prince scored 15 points and Stuckey finished with 14 for the Pistons in a game that was never competitive. Detroit scored the first 10 points and led by double digits for the final 43-plus minutes… Al Harrington scored 26 points and Wilson Chandler had 23 for New York (30-49), which lost for the 12th time in 14 games and will need to win its final three to avoid another 50-loss season.
Rasheed Wallace happy for UNC
The Detroit News (Chris McCosky) reports: As you might expect, Rasheed Wallace was in good spirits Tuesday after watching his North Carolina Tar Heels win the national championship Monday. “Once I found out (Michigan) State had beat UConn on Saturday — cakewalk for us,” he said. “I told everybody we’d be up by a minimum of 12 points by halftime and the only prediction I didn’t get right was I said we’d win by 25 points. We won by 17. I’ll take that. We are No. 1.”
Bynum 26 in 4th, Pistons beat Bobcats 104-97
The AP reports: Will Bynum scored a franchise-record 26 points in the fourth quarter to lead Detroit to a 104-97 victory over the Charlotte Bobcats on Sunday that put the Pistons a step closer to locking up the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. Bynum scored the final 13 points for the Pistons and finished with a career-high 32 points, and also had seven assists. He made all six of his field-goal attempts and went 14-for-16 from the free-throw line in the fourth quarter… Bynum picked up the scoring load for Richard Hamilton, who led Detroit with 13 points before he was ejected at the end of the third quarter when he picked up his second technical foul… D.J. Augustin led Charlotte with 22 points, including 14 in the fourth quarter. Raymond Felton added 18, while Boris Diaw and Emeka Okafor added 14 points each. Okafor pulled down 16 rebounds. Prince added 14 points for Detroit, while Kwame Brown and Antonio McDyess each grabbed nine rebounds.