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.

Tempers Flare: It didn't even take 72 minutes of playoff basketball between these two rivals before we had our first unnecessarily hard foul from the Detroit Pistons. It came courtesy of Amir Johnson. The foul itself was completely normal as two guys tried to wrap James up, but the extra contact when Johnson pushed LeBron on the back of the head was what made the James gang angry. Anderson Varejao got up into Amir Johnson's face, Johnson shoved Andy, and he was hit with a technical foul. Later, Zydrunas Ilgauskas got a T when he slammed the ball to the court after disagreeing with a loose ball foul underneath the basket. Finally, rookie Darnell Jackson and Kwame Brown got into each other's respective grills. They were each hit with a T-bomb. The closer the Pistons get to the end of the road, the shorter the fuses will get, and the more the Cavaliers have to watch themselves. While the Pistons have nothing to lose, the Cavaliers have everything to lose and cannot risk losing players to ejections or suspensions.

Third Quarter Sprint: The Cavaliers looked content to keep a 12-15 point lead for the first eight minutes or so of the third quarter. They continued to keep the Pistons out of the paint and let them shoot their contested jumpers. Then, the Cavaliers used a 16-4 run to close out the fourth quarter as LeBron was at his best, doing whatever he wanted to as he scored as well as distributed. The end result of that flurry was a 27-point lead heading into the fourth quarter. It looked like the starters could take a rest and take off their ankle tape for the evening.

Bench Bunch Blunder: Coach Brown started the fourth with a lineup of West, Wally Szczerbiak, Daniel Gibson, Joe Smith, and Darnell Jackson. Detroit countered with a similar bench-heavy lineup of Will Bynum, Aaron Afflalo, Amir Johnson, Jason Maxiell, and Walter Hermann. What ensued was something I would like to wipe from my memory. Detroit started to heat up after being in a virtual ice age for the first three quarters, and Cleveland struggled to even get a shot off as they turned the ball over several times in that stretch. Detroit used a 27-5 run in an eight minute stretch to cut the Cavalier Rickroll-esque lead down to just 7 with 3:45 to play. Brown had to bring James, Williams, and Varejao back in with 7:15 remaining, but it was apparent that they were in cool-down mode and had to restart their engines. Cleveland had a 9 minute, 28 second drought without a field goal in this game and had 6 fourth quarter turnovers, 3 in a row by Delonte West.

Not Just Blunder, But Lack of Thunder: It wasn't just the fourth quarter debacle that left something to be desired from the Cavalier bench tonight, it was the lack of scoring, rebounds, and even minutes played. First, Ben Wallace played just 7 1/2 minutes, grabbing 3 boards and blocking a shot, but his knee flared up again and he did not return. Besides Joe Smith's 21 productive minutes with 5 points, 6 rebounds, and 2 steals, there wasn't much. Daniel Gibson played 18 minutes and was just 1-of-7 from the floor for 3 points, Wally Szczerbiak managed just 8 1/2 minutes with 2 points and 1 rebound, and Darnell Jackson played six minutes where he missed a shot from the floor and two free throws. The ineffectivness of Gibson and Szczerbiak forced Z to play 29 minutes and Delonte to log 45 minutes. That's more than Brown wants for both of those guys.

Who should be starting?: To be honest, the way the Piston bench played with fire, heart, and hustle, I would be more scared of Detroit if Michael Curry would start those five in Game 3 than the current starters. Rasheed Wallace, Rip Hamilton, and Tayshaun Prince look banged up, bored, and ready to hit the beach. They're veterans, they have their ring, and the fire is just not there. Some of the players on the Pistons are hungry, however, especially Stuckey and Bynum. The Cavaliers need to make sure they don't sleep on this team's bench.

goes to: Mo Williams for his 21 points, 2 rebounds, 7 assists, 1 steal, and 1 block in 35 minutes. Mo connected on 8-of-13 from the field, and he took the pressure off of James early, helped push the lead in the fourth quarter, and made free throws in the fourth to help the Cavs ice it. It could have easily gone to James (29 points, 13 boards, 6 assists, 13-17 from foul line) or West (45 minutes, 20 points, 3 rebounds, 4 assists, 7-12 from field), but Mo rebounded nicely from a pedestrian game one effort. The Cavaliers had four men in double figures again as Ilgauskas had 12 points and 5 boards.

Bottom Line: The Cavaliers dominated for three quarters, but the fourth quarter left a bad taste in my mouth. Cleveland marched to the line a whopping 43 times compared to Pistons' 16 trips. The Pistons shot 46% in the 4th, and the Cavaliers shot just 30%. For the game, Cleveland won the boards 43-34, handed out 21 assists on 28 field goals, but they turned it over 14 times (6 times in the 4th). The Cavaliers need to make sure the horse is in the barn before they kick back their heels and relax. I guess a 27 point lead with 12 to go is a little premature for our bench right now.

Game 3 will shift to The Palace at Auburn Hills on Friday Night. Mark my words, Game 3 is the easiest game for the underdog to win, and if the Cavaliers can win that one, we'll be driving into the "Sweep City" limits.

16 15 14

ONE GOAL,

Kirk

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