Photo: Tracy Boulian/The Plain Dealer

The Detroit Pistons run is history as the Cleveland Cavaliers made it official on Sunday afternoon ending the Pistons' streak of six straight Eastern Conference Finals appearances. They did it in front of a 50/50 crowd at the Palace, and after the first quarter, they seemed able to cruise through this one without much peril.

Big Three Big Early: LeBron James, Mo Williams, and Zydrunas Ilgauskas got the Cavaliers off to a good start out of the gates as the three combined for 9-of-12 shooting for 24 points in the first quarter. Mo Williams's three point shot was on target from the beginning, and LeBron attacked the lane and the fouls mounted on the Piston starters. The Cavaliers as a team shot 10-of-17 (59 percent) in the first compared to the Pistons and their 38 percent clip (11-of-29).

Bynum Bench Burst: What did keep Detroit in the thick of it was the scoring barrage by reserve guard Will Bynum. Bynum posted 11 points in just 5 minutes while being defending by Daniel Gibson for most of that time. Once Z, Mo, and Delonte checked out of the game, the Pistons went on an 11-2 run to close the quarter. Bynum is instant offense off of the bench, and I am baffled why the Pistons did not try to use him even more than they did against the Cavaliers and all season. Their young backcourt of Stuckey, Bynum, and Afflalo definitely shows promise moving forward.

Photo: Gregory Shamus/Getty Images

LeBron James told his team prior to today's game that they truly hadn't faced adversity yet; they sure faced it tonight. King James said it was important how they reacted to that adversity, and tonight they survived poor shooting and a hostile crowd to pass this test with flying colors. Now, the Pistons are heading to their garages and looking for their fishing poles, bait, and tackle facing a 3-0 hole.

Early Jitters: Game three is statistically the game in which the underdog has the best chance of winning, mostly because it is their first home game, and the crowd can really energize them. If you look around the NBA, the Jazz and Mavericks won their game threes against the Lakers and Spurs, and others (Rockets, Sixers, Heat) have a good shot after taking one of the first two games on their opponent's home court. The Pistons went as far as reaching out to the Plain Dealer to help sell tickets for tonight's game, but the crowd was still pretty spirited at the outset. You could tell that the Cavaliers were flustered since they turned it over twice in the first three possessions and 7 times in the first quarter. Mo Williams and Delonte West in particular looked uncomfortable as they played their first playoff games in the Palace as Cavaliers. As the minutes went by, however, the Cavaliers kept their cool and were able to chip away at the Pistons' momentum. The two guys that have been on this team the longest, Zydrunas Ilgauskas and LeBron James, showed their experience and leadership by keeping the Cavaliers on an even keel throughout. Z and Bron combined for 13 first quarter points and 14 fourth quarter points.

Backcourt Woes: Mo and Delonte really struggled in this one. The Cavalier backcourt duo combined for just 1-of-18 shooting from the field (0-of-9 from three point), 4 points, and 8 turnovers in 75 minutes. Considering the Cavaliers have been a 4-man offensive attack lately (James, Z, Mo, West), if you told me these two had those numbers, I would have guessed the Cavaliers lost. But, the Cavaliers reversed another trend tonight: lack of bench production. The bench contributed 30 points and 12 rebounds tonight, and most of that came in the form of Joe Smith.

Photo: AP

If the game had lasted only 36 minutes tonight, I would have started my article by saying how the Cavaliers absolutely pounded the Pistons into the ground and there were no signs of life from them. Instead, I have to bring up the fact that the Cavaliers' bench failed miserably in the fourth quarter succumbing to a 27-5 run as the Cavaliers went nine minutes without a field goal as they closed out a 12-point victory in ho-hum fashion.

Pistons' New Defensive Strategy: Pistons Coach Michael Curry said before tonight's game that they were going to take a different approach to guarding LeBron James. They did, but it didn't give Detroit the results Curry had hoped. Rip Hamilton, not Tayshaun Prince, took the primary defensive assignment on James, and the Pistons used a virtual 1-2-2 zone when LeBron setup on the wing or in the post. All that did was allow Mo Williams and Zydrunas Ilgauskas to get off to fantastic starts. Mo and Z combined for 10 first quarter points, and James still managed 8 of his own while grabbing 4 rebounds and handing out 2 assists. The Cavaliers shot 56 percent for the quarter, and Detroit limped in with a 35 percent mark. Furthermore, the Pistons were careless with the basketball as they accumulated 6 turnovers, most of them just bad crosscourt passes.

LeBron's Take 5: With a nine point lead after one, James sat for an extended period as the unit of Williams, West, Gibson, Wallace, and Smith held their own and actually were +4 until James returned at the 6:57 mark. This was a frightening pattern in the first game as both times LBJ went to the bench, the Pistons went on a run. During this point of the game, it's Mo and Delonte time, and tonight was no difference. The move by Mike Brown to put them out on the court together when James sits has been a key to the team's success in the last 8 games.

Photo: Getty Images

With the Bulls defeating the defending champion Boston Celtics earlier today (click here for a wrapup on that one), it was a stern reminder that nothing is a guarantee in playoff basketball. Recognizing that, the Cavaliers played like they were focused on the task at hand. They survived sizzling shooting from Detroit for the first quarter and a half to take the 1-0 series lead.

Defensive Struggle?: Whenever the Cavaliers and Pistons met in the postseason in past years, you could almost bet on a score in the 70s or low 80s. That was not the case today as neither team seemed willing to miss their fair share of shots in the early going. In the first quarter, the Cavaliers shot 60 percent, while the Pistons were firing at a 56 percent clip. LeBron James got the offense running on all cylinders early for the Cavaliers with 12 first quarter points and Zydrunas Ilgauskas displayed some toughness and crashed the boards with purpose. Meanwhile, Rodney Stuckey used a mismatch with Mo Williams to score 10 quick ones in the first quarter and draw two fouls on Mo.

10. First look at Darnell Jackson (Game 23) - With Big Z out due to an ankle injury, Mike Brown gave Darnell Jackson some significant minutes. Brown had praised Jackson's hard work in practice and thought he was ready to step up for the Cavs. Although Jackson did not light up the scoreboard, what he did show was his toughness and desire to never give up on plays. Jackson only recorded 1 point, but he snatched 8 rebounds, 5 of which were offensive. This performance was important because with Ben Wallace's durability in question, Darnell Jackson is the only big on the Cavs' roster that can match Wallace's toughness. If Jackson's jumper continues to improve (and it's already light years in front of Andy's and Ben's), he may very well be an important piece to the Cavs puzzle for a long while.

This past week, I was able to get in contact with the Cleveland Plain Dealer's Brian Windhorst, who has been covering the Cavaliers since 2003 between the Akron Beacon Journal and PD.  Brian is one of if not the most knowledgeable person about the Cavs in my personal opinion, and I was fortunate to exchange a Q&A session with him.

CofC: What is your favorite moment/game since you've been covering the Cavaliers and why?

Windhorst: Probably the night when the Cavs won Game 6 in the Eastern Conference Finals in 2007. Not just because it was a historic moment but because of the circumstances. There were 20,000 people outside in the plaza watching the game on television. The Cavs were playing a classic rival that melted down. And Daniel Gibson had probably the game of his life. It reminded me so much of LeBron's freshman season in high school when Dru Joyce hit 7 3-pointers at Ohio State. Same sort of deal, LeBron set up the little guy to win the game. I know for LeBron that is a favorite memory and I'm sure the 2007 game is right there as well.

CofC: With your extensive time covering LeBron James, tell us something about LeBron that the average fan may not know.

BW: He is highly aware. It may not always give that impression, but his senses are tuned. He's very caught up on what is happening in the league. He reads and watches a lot. He's always aware of his stats and both teams stats in the game. He is aware of the history of the game. He is aware of fans and what they are saying to him. He is also aware of the value of perception, which is why he doesn't reveal these truths often. But when he says he doesn't know how close he is to a triple double, for example, he's highly aware that it is the correct thing to say.

With playoff seeding on the line, the Philadelphia 76ers needed 53 minutes to take care of a bare bones Cavaliers squad who gave us one of the most thrilling games all season as the Cavaliers fell just short of the best home record in NBA history, finishing with a 39-2 mark.

Where have all the starters gone?: In a move that I 100% agree with, Coach Mike Brown "suited up" LeBron James, Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Ben Wallace, and Joe Smith while Mo Williams received a DNP-CD for simply wearing his warmup instead. Therefore, the Cavaliers went with an unconventional starting lineup of Delonte West, Sasha Pavlovic, Wally Szczerbiak, Darnell Jackson, and Anderson Varejao. Things looked a little shaky at first as the Cavaliers struggled to setup their offensive sets and committed 4 early turnovers. However, the team stabilized and finished the first with a 6 point lead.

Delonte, Andy Call It A Night At Half: In another move that I can understand as well, Mike Brown gave Delonte West and Anderson Varejao the rest of the game off after intermission. The Cavaliers took a step back on the defensive end as their two best available defenders took a seat on the bench. Brown got through tonight's game with just 11 minutes from Anderson Varejao (3 points, 5 rebounds) and 20 minutes from Delonte West (7 points, 4 assists).

A message to all NBA playoff teams: if you want to get your hands on the Larry O'Brien trophy, you or someone else has to come into Quicken Loans Arena and beat the Cleveland Cavaliers. And, judging from the Cavaliers' body of work there this year, that will be no easy task. The Cavaliers wrapped it all up with a gutsy performance against a solid young Indiana Pacers team who got a dynamic performance from All-Star Danny Granger and rookie Brandon Rush.

At the Pacers' pace: A large chunk of this one was played at Indiana's pace, especially the first and third quarters. The Pacers put up 27 and 37 points in those quarters, and they used one-on-one matchups to get easy buckets from Granger and Rush. Granger, who LeBron has had some success with holding in check, racked up an astonishing 38 points on 12-of-28 shooting, and Rush was 11-of-17 from the field for his 27 points. Other than a 12-point fourth quarter from Troy Murphy (17 points, 13 boards), it was a two-man show for the Pacers.

Taking Care of Family Business: The Cavaliers won this one because they stuck together as a team and the starting five really carried them through. There was a moment in the game where each of the starters made a huge impact on the game. Whether it was LeBron's scoring barrage, Mo Gotti's dagger that sealed the deal, Delonte's attacking the rim, Andy's erratic hustle, or Z's double-double effort, all five made their mark on the game.

The defending NBA champion Boston Celtics did not have a happy Easter in Cleveland. The Cavaliers used a dominant first quarter performance to put the Celtics away early, and the Cavs finished the game with a 107 to 76 victory over Boston. The 31 point defeat was the worst of the season for the defending champs. The Celtics were without starting power forward Kevin Garnett for the 20th time in the last 24 games, but I have a hard time believing that Garnett would have made much of a difference today.

• Putting the Clamps Down Early - The Cavalier defense made life miserable for the Celtics in the first quarter today. When I say miserable, I mean Boston scored 9 points in the first quarter on 3 of 20 shooting (15%).  Cleveland's defense had a hand in every shooter's face, and the Celtics never really got into any groove. In the first quarter, Ray Allen was 0 of 6 from the field and Paul Peirce was 2 of 7.

• On the Other Hand - In contrast to the Celtics' horrible start, the Cleveland Cavaliers came ready to play on both ends of the floor. The Cavaliers outscored the Celtics 31 to 9 in the first quarter. The Cavs shot 52% from the floor in the first quarter compared to the Celtics at 15%, and the wine and gold out rebounded the Celtics 17 to 8. Boston did not match Cleveland's energy early, and it showed on the floor. Cleveland was coming up with all of the loose balls and long rebounds, and the Celtics looked as if this was the first game they played together.

If you are in the Eastern Conference and want to make it to the NBA Finals, it is now official that the road to the Finals will go right through Quicken Loans Arena. The Cavaliers made sure of that with a solid road victory against the currently sixth-seeded Philadelphia 76ers.