The reason for the title of this blog is this is the perception in the national media, that the Pistons are losing these games rather than the Cavaliers winning them. After each game, the TNT and ESPN crews tell us how exactly Detroit snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. Chauncey Billups didn’t make shots, Chris Webber looks old, etc. It doesn’t occur to any of these guys that perhaps the Cavaliers have done something to make these things happen.
Part of this thinking is the mentality of the NBA. The championship mystique. The Pistons have won a title, albeit three years ago, and they went to The Finals and lost just a year later. Until you win something, in their eyes, you haven’t done anything. That’s where the Cavaliers sit. If and when they beat the Pistons, they will get all the credit in the world. It’s like boxing. The champion has the belt and the challengers have to take it. These guys forget Detroit didn’t win the East last year, the Heat did.
Billups has not only played poorly, by his standards, in this year’s series, but he also did not play well in last season’s seven game set against Cleveland. That’s not a coincidence. That’s good defensive strategy by Mike Brown and execution by Eric Snow and Larry Hughes. What is it definitely not is a fluke. The wine and gold have become a good defensive team.
The Cavs are trying to quicken the pace of the game and have succeeded a little bit in Games 3 and 4. That’s when they play their best and have opened up some leads as the game opens up. LeBron James has played very well in the two games at the Q, but he has had a productive second man in each of the games in Cleveland. Sunday night, Sasha Pavlovic and Zydrunas Ilgauskas made a difference. Last night, it was Drew Gooden and Daniel Gibson who were the co-stars of the game. Gibson played his best game as a pro in the Eastern Conference Finals, and Gooden hit several big shots down the stretch and played good defense on Rasheed Wallace.
The reality is both teams are thinking they could have swept this series. Actually, the Cavs have outscored the Pistons in this series by a grand total of four points. The old joke about watching the last two minutes of an NBA game is true here. Every game has been decided in this manner. Don’t expect anything different the rest of the series. The wine and gold need to make the big shot in the closing minutes at The Palace to steal one in Motown. They have to get one there to advance to The Finals. That they could have won either of the first two games should buoy their confidence.
The Pistons will make adjustments to combat the quickness of Gibson. This means a new player has to step up, whether it’s Pavlovic or Gooden or Z. James cannot do it on his own. Cleveland’s best bet to win in Detroit comes tomorrow night. It’s highly unlikely they could get a Game 7 win on the road.
JK
Cleveland Sports Perspective 