- Joined
- Apr 18, 2005
- Messages
- 8,411
- Reaction score
- 9,040
- Points
- 113
GAME 5 - Series Tied 2-2
Detroit Pistons vs. Cleveland Cavaliers
Thursday, May 31st, 2007
8:00pm ET
Palace of Auburn Hills
TV: TNT
Radio : WTAM 1100
Head Coaches
Flip Saunders / Mike Brown
Starters
Chauncey Billups / Larry Hughes
Richard Hamilton / Sasha Pavlovic
Tayshaun Prince / LeBron James
Rasheed Wallace / Drew Gooden
Chris Webber / Zydrunas Ilgauskas
Cleveland Cavaliers Bench
Anderson Varejao/Donyell Marshall/Daniel Gibson/Damon Jones
Detroit Pistons Bench
Antonio McDyess/Carlos Delfino/Jason Maxiell/Lindsey Hunter/Dale Davis
GAME NOTES
· LeBron James scored 13 of his game-high 25 points in the fourth quarter of Game 4. He has averaged 12.5 points on 9-14 (.643) shooting, 3.0 rebounds and 3.0 assists in the fourth quarter of the last two games. In the last two games overall, James has averaged 28.5 points on .500 shooting, 8.0 rebounds and 10.0 assists.
· Daniel Gibson scored a career-high 21 points in Game 4. He connected on 12-12 from the free throw line and added three rebounds in 36 minutes. Over the past three games, he has averaged 13.0 points on .474 shooting and connected on 6-14 (.429) from three-point range. He has made 15-16 from the free throw line during that stretch.
· With a win tonight, Cavaliers Head Coach Mike Brown would tie Lenny Wilkens for the most playoff wins for a Cavs head coach with 18. In just two playoff seasons, Brown has compiled a postseason record of 17-10 (.630).
· Cleveland’s 91 points in Game 4 tied for the most points ever scored by the Cavaliers against the Pistons in the playoffs (11 games total). Cleveland also tallied 91 in Game 2 last season.
· The Cavaliers have won consecutive Eastern Conference Finals games for the second time in history. With a win tonight, Cleveland would post three straight Eastern Conference Finals wins for the first time in team history.
· LeBron James has dished out at least seven assists in 13 of 14 playoff games this season. He ranks fifth in the postseason in assists per game (8.4).
· Over the past two postseasons, only Detroit (20 wins) and San Antonio (18) wins have more playoff wins than the Cavaliers (17).
---------------------------------------------------------------
NOTABLES from Game 4
The Cavs are 10-0 in the postseason when James scores more than 20. ... Cleveland's 10 wins are its most in the playoffs. ... When Snow didn't get into Game 3, it was the first time he hadn't played in a game because of a coach's decision since 1998 -- a span of 701 games. ... Popular "American Idol" contestant Melinda Doolittle sang the national anthem. ... Celebrity rows included: TV actress Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Browns coach Romeo Crennel, Michigan State hoops coach Tom Izzo and talk show host Geraldo Rivera.
-------------------------------------------------------------
PICTURES
"What are we gonna do in Game 5? I can't wait to throw my jersey in some dude's face."
In honor of Boobie's emergence:
<object width="425" height="350"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/IEz0OfdbOoc"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/IEz0OfdbOoc" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="350"></embed></object>
----------------------------------------------------------
QUOTABLE
---The Cavaliers took control of Game 4 during a fourth-quarter run, during which Rasheed Wallace drew a technical foul, his fifth of the postseason. It came with 6:07 left in the game when he threw his headband at the team bench. "That's a stupid rule, man," Pistons point guard Chauncey Billups said. "He's taking his headband off, and you can't take your headband off and throw it to the equipment guy? I mean, on the bench? That's a tech. I didn't even see it." Pistons coach Flip Saunders called it a "terrible call" and said Wallace was not angry at the officials when he tossed the band, but at Richard Hamilton.
-----------------------------------------------------------
---`I'm more focused than I've ever been in my life,'' James said. ``I just had to stay aggressive.'' Yet James alone couldn't do it. He needed and got lots of help and from somewhat unlikely sources. While this series is quickly turning into the showcase for James' growth as a playoff leader, it also has seen the coming of age of another youngster in Daniel Gibson, who might have delivered the game of his life Tuesday.
------------------------------------------------------------
---James, criticized for his fourth-quarter failures in Games 1 and 2 at Detroit, had a virtuoso-like performance in the final 12 minutes. He went 4-of-6 from the field, 5-of-5 from the line and added four rebounds and three assists.
"I told my teammates, 'Get me to the fourth and it's close, and I'll try my best to win,"' James said.
-----------------------------------------------------------
---As James was preparing to shoot, Hamilton walked up and tried to rattle him with a few words -- just as James had done to Washington's Gilbert Arenas in the playoffs last season.
"I invented that," James joked. "No, Scottie Pippen invented that with Karl Malone. He (Hamilton) tried to mess with me and I had to stay focused."
-----------------------------------------------------------
---Gibson, who was expected to start if Hughes couldn't, came off the bench and scored 11 points as the Cavs built a 50-43 at the break.
"We couldn't keep in front of him," Saunders said. "Gibson played unbelievable."
Gibson spent hours in his Houston backyard practicing Billups' trademark fadeaway jumper, and in the second quarter, he stuck one just like one of his NBA heroes. Moments after feeding James for a two-handed dunk, Gibson hit his Billupsesque shot in the lane.
"I just tried to step up and do some of those things he (Billups) does," Gibson said.
----------------------------------------------------------
from http://cavaliers.aolsportsblog.com/
Daniel Gibson: Are You Ready?
With the news that LeBron's 'sidekick' (and I use that term extremely generously), Larry Hughes, is very unlikely to play tonight in the pivotal Game 4 against Detroit due to a busted heel, all eyes turn to one man: Daniel Gibson.
For the large segment of the NBA viewing public that pays no attention to college basketball until the premiere players ascend to the League, here's the book on Gibson: school boy hero in Texas, where he averaged 25.5 points and led Jones High School to its first State title in 39 years. Recruited by everybody, but became a Longhorn, where he started from Day 1 and despite spotty shooting, still averaged 13.8 points. 3.5 rebounds, and 3.6 assists per game. As a sophomore, he teamed with LaMarcus Aldridge to guide Texas to the Final 8 before losing to LSU and its twosome of Tyrus Thomas and Glen Davis.
Gibson has begun to flourish against the Pistons, scoring nine points in each of the last two games as his minutes have increased. Tonight, it seems likely he'll get to start against one-time NBA Finals MVP Chauncey Billups. This game will decide the series, and the Cavs are trotting a rookie out to get stomped by a cagey veteran?
The Pistons are 1.5 point favorites, which, in light of the Hughes injury, makes sense. It certainly thins out the Cleveland bench - you can be sure Mike Brown will not want Damon Jones on the floor in crunch time. Eric Snow is a dinosaur, and rookie Shannon Brown may be a wild card. He's a run-and-jump guy who can get out on the break, throw down a filthy dunk, and excite the crowd. But can he guard anyone?
I'm going out on a short limb and taking the Cavs in another close one, 84-82. Think 30-10-10 again for LeBron. Feel free to make your predictions.
----------------------------------------------------
Is LeBron facing Jordan Rules Defense?
from http://www.aolsportsblog.com/2007/05/29/is-lebron-facing-jordan-rules-defense/#cont
Jack McCallum, the celebrated basketball writer, watched game 2 of the Pistons/Cavs series with Chuck Daly. Daly, you might recall, helped devise what eventually became known as "The Jordan Rules". The Pistons used a swarming and extremely physical team defense to beat Michael Jordan and the Bulls in the Playoffs three straight times in mid-to-late 80s.
"The other rule was, any time [Jordan] went by you, you had to nail him. If he was coming off a screen, nail him. We didn't want to be dirty -- I know some people thought we were -- but we had to make contact and be very physical." Daily said.
McCallum wanted to find out if LeBron James is facing anything similar to the "Jordan Rules" in this year's series against Detroit.
Daly leaned forward on his couch to get a better look at the defense the Pistons were throwing at James. "See, watch the Pistons' shoulders," Daly says, staring at his big screen. "They're all pointed toward LeBron and ready to shade an extra step."
Daly smiles wickedly. "They're ready to pounce."
I know the Pistons are giving LeBron a hard time on the offensive end, but I don't think he's dealing with anything close to what MJ had to go through.
Watch highlights of the Pistons/Bulls series from back in the day on YouTube sometime, and see how often Jordan hit the deck or came up limping after one of his drives to the tin. I don't think I've seen LeBron get knocked down once by Detroit in this year's Eastern Conference Finals.
Not to take anything away from this current Pistons team, but they're nowhere near as physical or nasty as the original Bad Boys. The '07 Pistons are a confident (sometimes cocky) bunch, but they don't give off the vibe -- as their predecessors did -- that they're not only going to beat you on the court, but they'll also be waiting for you in the parking lot following the game to settle things once and for all.
LeBron James -- who, thanks to his tremendous physique, should theoretically be able to absorb more punishment than the slender MJ of the 80s could -- should count his lucky stars that he'll never have to face anything like the "Jordan Rules".
------------------------------------------------------------
from Brian Windhorst's blog - http://blogs.ohio.com/cavaliers_blog/
This thing just got serious
When the Eastern Conference Finals started last week I was in the managed expectations and perspective business. No matter what happened to the Cavs, it would benefit them, I said. Even in a conversation I had with general manager Danny Ferry a day after Game 2 and he was still down from the near miss, I was telling him what he already knew, that the early troubles would build the foundation for success in the future. He agreed through gritted teeth, but quickly pointed out he still felt his team could win this now. I was not sure it would be this immediate. What's happening now is still benefiting them a great deal, but now it surely seems they've got a real good chance to win this series.
Not just because they held serve at home, winning Game 4, to make it 2-2. But because they are continuing to take away the Pistons strengths game after game while LeBron James plays better and better. It is well known that it only takes one game to turn a playoff series and the Pistons have an excellent chance to re-grasp control in Game 5. But there were a lot of people, especially who reside in greater Detroit, who honestly thought this series would be a sweep. There was a general belief in some areas, though never here, that last year what happened was the more the Pistons fault and not the Cavs success. In other words, there wasn't respect. Well hear this, the Pistons are really trying and still not beating the Cavs right now.
More on the game...
--I was shocked Larry Hughes tried to play on the foot. I'm not sure if they could give him a strong pain killer or what. He told me he asked the Cavs doctors about a Cortisone shot but that it wouldn't help with this kind of injury. My guess is he had a handful of Advil and some adrenaline working. He wasn't able to do much and he was a total disaster after halftime, but him being out there enabled Daniel Gibson's minute load to be kept reasonable. Plus it was an emotional lift to his teammates. Emotion means a lot to the Cavs.
--By the end of training camp I thought the Cavs might have something in Gibson and I'm not saying I had some special knowledge or foresight. He'd already won over his new teammates and the coaches were very high on him by the end of October. Still, no one could've foreseen the way he's played over the last three games. I written a lot about him this year, including the interesting story of how he ended up in Cleveland. Here's what I can tell you about him, he stays and works extra on his shooting after every practice and every shootaround. He, Shannon Brown and Dwayne Jones all do it together. You can see the new facets in his game, especially some of his moves close to the basket.
--Maybe this had nothing to do with it, but Chris Webber and Rasheed Wallace seemed not to have as much energy tonight after getting just one day off in between games. I know the less rest impacts Zydrunas Ilgauskas, so why not those fellow big guys? Anyway, the Cavs double-teamed Wallace a lot more tonight in the post. He did a good job of passing out of them, but he also wasn't as active as in the previous games.
--Before I write this I'm telling you I don't know if it is true, it is complete hearsay. That's why it's in a blog and not a story. But some PWK (people with knowledge) whispered to me tonight the Pistons are having some chemistry problems in the locker room right now. Again, I don't know the team and I don't know the locker room. I am just passing it on because it's from a reliable source. It is interesting, though, that Wallace got a technical foul for yelling at his own teammate tonight.
--There are people who want to know why Eric Snow and Damon Jones haven't played more this series. There is no problem with Mike Brown as far as I've been told. With as tough on defense as the Pistons are, Mike feels he simply can't afford to go for long stretches with Snow out there. It makes it too easy to load up on James because Detroit doesn't have to worry about Snow on offense. As for Damon, while he's played some good minutes on defense in the postseason, once he gets in the game the Pistons instantly attack him. Tonight they did and it worked. Same goes for Donyell Marshall. He had some big baskets tonight, but he simply couldn't handle Antonio McDyess.
--As I first wrote about back in March, the difference in the Cavs between this year and last year is they are actually much younger. In the fourth quarter tonight, there was 21-year-old Gibson, 22-year-old James, and 23-year-old Sasha Pavlovic out there making plays. While the Pistons have the experience advantage and have been together longer, you can see the Cavs core for years to come developing. Not to mention Drew Gooden is just 26, Anderson Varejao 24 and Larry Hughes 28. It is said in the NBA, you win with men. The Pistons have men, but the Cavs have young guys who are turning into men.
--Brown sort of called out Drew Gooden after Game 2, saying his production was inadequate for the minutes he was logging. Drew's come back with two big games. He isn't a consistent player, but he's learning to better control his emotions. While he's a descent pressure player because it doesn't bother him much, he was also susceptible to getting down on himself when he went through rough patches. Now he seems to weather storms better, part of growing up I guess. Tonight was a prime example, after he got hit with the technical with eight minutes left and yelled at by the bench and his teammates, he did not go into a shell. Instead, he played a great rest of the quarter. I believe that pick-and-roll with James will always be open for him, just as it is usually is for Z.
Last edited:
that's a nice story with big z right here, your dad lives in Cleveland?
