[Eastern Conf Finals] Cleveland Cavaliers vs. Detroit Pistons

If (and only if) the Cavs have the mental fortitude to recover from losing two games they could have won, this could go the distance. I don't think they can because their team is gutless and their coach isn't very good.

 

Lebron with the facial and Rasheed

 

LeBron continues to choke with his free throws...

 

Lebron finally comes through in crunch time. This series could go the distance if he plays like this every game. He like how he is attacking the defense and not giving up the ball.

 

Having a big 4th quarter against the Pistons represents a breakthrough for LBJ. If the Cavs win on Tuesday, it may indicate they have Detroit figured out. Their defense continues to fluster the Pistons. What the Cavs have done so far in this series that the Bulls did not do was maintain their defensive intensity when their offense goes into droughts. The Bulls let their futility on offense affect their defense at the other end. Give Cleveland credit for being mature enough not to let this happen. If Larry Hughes or Donyell Marshall were worth more than a dime in Russian Rubles, Cleveland would be up 3-0.

The Pistons have declined a lot since their Finals years. Chauncey was clutch in the 4th quarter but he must start producing over the full game. His TOs are inexcusable and it makes me think he is slipping.

I missed a lot of the game so can someone tell me why Maxiell only played 3 minutes?

 

Throughout the series the Cavs have matched Detroit's hustle and defensive intensity, which many people did not expect (rightly so). It's no coincidence our final four are all great defensive teams for 48 minutes. Donyell is in Cleveland strictly to make 3's, and as usual he doesn't...you too Damon. But Gibson was really impressive tonight, really fast on offense and knocking down 3's. And maybe most importantly he was really effective on defense. All 3 things Hughes is not good at. I hope Gibson can keep this up next game and Brown will keep him on the floor.

Good question on Maxiell considering his performance in game 2. Tonight Rasheed wasn't in foul trouble. He had a pretty good game overall. Webber too. I think McDyees got so many minutes for his defense and to let Webber take some minutes at PF.

 

i kind of disagree here.

The pistons are a great team and chauncey will come through in the clutch when his team needs a win. This was not a must win situation and the odds of det sweeping the cavs was very slim to begin with. To actually be in the game this close says something about the det team. This was supposed to be a cavs victory hands down and it resulted in it. Its not like Det swept through every team those 2 years they went to the finals. They are allowed to lose a game and possibly have a tough series.

Look for the cavs to make this a series of course but det will prevail when it counts the most, they have multiple players that can take over a quarter and propell them to victory.

 

Please, couldn't you say this exact same thing in favor of Cleveland in games 1 and 2? At least they were closer at the end and had legitimate chances to win on the final plays.

 

Yeah, I'd like to hear an answer for this one too.

 

professorjay, great news for Cavs fans!

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/playoffs2007/news/story?id=2884926

Based on last season's series with the Pistons, your chances of winning just went up. It's called addition by subtraction.

 

Hahaha! Plot thickens. If Gibson can contribute like last game and the Cavs even it up, he can make a name for himself on the NBA radar.

 

if you notice all the teams that end up going up 2-0 and go on the road for a game 3, you will see that most of the home teams that actually win will win pretty big.

lets take a look at this year:

houston vs. utah game 3....we lost by 14
utah vs. gs...gs won by 10
spurs vs. jazz...utah won by 26

all double digits

in a competitive series the first two games are of the road team trying to steal a game therefore more often than not one of the games will be close.

 

So you're saying that every game 3 should be a blowout by the home team, otherwise it's a sign that the home team is in big trouble. Also, you're saying that Detroit wasn't trying to steal game 3, they just backed into a near-win. This is the NBA playoffs, I doubt you're right.

So far all this series has proved is that every team has held serve. At the same time each team has come close to stealing an away game.

As for tonight...Hughes is in the house. I don't know how anyone watching this series can say that Hughes is a star player next to Lebron. He's played like a generic starter all season. I hope he steps it up tonight. Otherwise I hope Gibson splits time w/ him.

 

Wow, that rookie Daniel Gibson is awesome, stepping up big time when Lebron's on the bench.

 

He's already better than Luther Head

 

You called it. What a first half! With that long rest, LeBron can play the final 24 minutes. The Cavs have a shot to even this up if your role players don't choke.

 

What a tank job so far by the Cavs. They are lucky Daniel Gibson is playing.

 

Par for the course this series. Thank goodness Gibson has emerged as another threat this game. Looks like another exciting final minute in the making.

 

What the f-ck do they keep showing stupid ass Geraldo for in those Austin powers glasses? He's not even from Cleveland. Hell his name isn't even freaking Geraldo. What an insult to the city of Cleveland.

PS Tayshaun is good. Wish we had the 2002 draft back..

 

So Geraldo is a Cavs fan, huh?

Almost enough to make me root against them, and I really don't have any rooting interest in this series...