The Cavaliers did indeed beat the Pistons in Game 3 of their first round playoff match-up, stretching their lead to a near insurmountable three games to none in the process. And because Cleveland was able to comfortably pull away in a 79-68 victory on the road, that pretty much means this series is all over but the Rasheed Wallace shouting at the refs.Because it is. Look a little more closely at how this one went down, and you'll see that so much had to go wrong for Detroit to even make a game of it, and you'll see that the rule is this. Cleveland looks like the best team in the East, possibly the league right now, and it may not be that close.
Despite only scoring nine points in the third quarter, the Cavaliers put together a dominant fourth quarter run to put this one away. Joe Smith, yes, Joe Smith had 19 points and 10 rebounds off the bench to help the Cavaliers outscore Detroit 26-15 in the fourth. But, as always, if you want to know why Cleveland won, it was halfway defense, holding Detroit to 38 percent from the field, and LeBron James.
James had 25 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists for the Cavs, including several key and-ones to extinguish the life from Detroit. James continues to both take the game over when necessary and surge off his teammates as well. James was fierce on the boards, oftentimes simply outworking the Pistons.
For Detroit, the end certainly seems to be near. They had streaks of energy tonight in the first and third quarters, but seemed to simply give it up for long periods. Tayshaun Prince played bravely in the face of what was pretty obviously a painful back injury, but without someone to produce a lift, the Pistons were simply overmatched. With Game 4 on Sunday seeming like more and more of a formality, we'll have to see if Detroit's veterans can bring enough pride and energy to avoid a sweep ending at home. For the Cavs, everything seems to be rolling their way.
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