Empty the Bench

Detroit 79, Cleveland 76

It wasn’t a foul. In playoff basketball–or at least the playoff basketball that anyone over the age of 21 surely remembers–that kind of it-could-go-either-way drive to the hole, with the game on the line, with less than 12 seconds remaining, is not, or at least should not be, a whistle. And it’s a shame that some writers are so disappointed that a superstar didn’t get the superstar whistle, for once, that this is all they’re going to talk about the next few days leading up to Game 3 Sunday night. Not about Rasheed Wallace’s semi-miraculous fallaway swish from the baseline to give Detroit the lead. Not second-year forward Jason Maxiell helping himself to the baby buffet, playoff style. And certainly not the stifling Pistons defense that again saved them when their offense just wasn’t clicking.

The Cleveland Cavaliers could for all intensive purposes be heading home with a 2-0 lead in this series, but the reason they’re not is because they haven’t performed under pressure, in clutch situations, nearly as well as Detroit has. Plain and simple. No game is ultimately determined by one play–a lot happens before the final minute, right, Chris Sheridan?–but in Game 1, it was Donyell Marshall bricking a wide-open three-pointer that would have likely won the game. Last night, first it was a deja vu play with about 30 seconds left when Lebron drove to the hole, the defense collapsed, and he dished to an open teammate beyond the arc, almost the same spot as Marshall’s shot. Sasha Pavlovic hesitated, pump-faked, and traveled. Turnover. Then it was Anderson Varejoke (14 points, 14 boards) acting incredulous that his flopping disguised as a sorry excuse for defense didn’t earn him an offensive foul call on ‘Sheed before the big man nailed a difficult shot in Lebron’s face.

Then, on the last possession, head coach Mike Brown inexplicably does not draw up a play to get a shot off within a few seconds, thereby extending the game if the shot doesn’t fall, instead opting to isolate Lebron at the top of the key, with Rip Hamilton guarding. Lebron drove, spun, and assumed that since he’s King James, King James would be shooting free throws. No. Instead, the shot clanged off the back of the rim, bouncing right to Wallace… who mishandled the ball! Larry Hughes grabbed it and put up a point-blank, seven-foot jumper. Clang. Then an offensive tip, Anderson Varejoke, that flirted with the rim before harmlessly falling out. Mike Brown does a little dance on the sideline, upset that his team didn’t get the chance to win on the backs of a whistle, technical foul, game over, the Pistons survive again.

Whew.

For the Pistons, Jason Maxiell made all the difference in the world, and right now is earning himself more minutes not just for the rest of this series and possibly the NBA Finals, if Detroit can get there, but next season too. We hear a lot of talk these days in the league about “energy players,” and Maxiell is quickly becoming one of the best of that breed. In the first quarter–nay, the first half–J-Maxx was the savior off the bench. Mitch Albom for the Detroit Free Pass summed it up nicely:

First he blocked LeBron. That’ll get anyone pumped. Then he grabbed an offensive rebound and slammed it home over LeBron. Say hello. Then he took an alley-oop from Billups and slammed it, hanging on the rim. He grabbed another rebound. Blocked another shot. Grabbed another rebound. Put in a lay-up. Grabbed another rebound. Drew a foul.

By the time the half was over, Maxiell was Detroit’s leading scorer (11), leading rebounder (five), and leading shot-blocker (two). Remember, this is his first year in the playoffs. He continued his great performance in the second half and finished with 15 points, six boards and a new respect from the fans — and certainly the Cavaliers. “I told Jason that was probably his best game all year,” Wallace said.

Indeed it was, and this time, I don’t think Flip Saunders will forget it. At times this season, it was befuddling how J-Maxx would come in for a few minutes, dominate, then find himself on the bench for the rest of the game. Those days are numbered now because this kid has officially arrived. If it wasn’t for his poor free-throw shooting, he probably would have closed out the game, again, in the fourth quarter at the four spot.

As for the box score-y wrap, ‘Sheed led Detroit in points and rebounds with 16 and 11, respectively, to go with 2 blocks and 2 steals, while Chauncey Billups and Rip Hamilton notched 13 points apiece, each of them struggling from the field and shooting a combined 9-21. Tayshaun Prince’s offensive disappearing act continued, as he went 0-8 FG and just 1 point. He’s now 1-19 for the series, the toll from guarding Lebron clearing taking away from his offense. For Cleveland, James led the way with 19 points (but only 5 in the second half). Mike Brown got little to nothing from Drew Gooden, Big Z, and Larry Hughes, as the trio combined for 11 points, 5-19 FG, 11 boards, and 6 turnovers.

Game 3 Sunday night (8:30pm, TNT) now becomes a must win for Cleveland at home. Lose that one, and we could very well see a sweep. One has to think they’ll be fired up and pissed off after these two extremely close losses in Detroit, but there have to be seeds of doubt sprouting in their bellies. Their best defensive efforts still weren’t enough, and how much longer will Flip Saunders and the Pistons fail to make the right adjustments to Mike Brown’s admittedly smart defensive schemes? How much longer will Billups play out of character, will Prince miss easy ones, and Chris Webber miss point-blank hooks? One thing’s for sure: the Cavs need to stop banking their chances of winning on a referee whistle.

For more on last night’s game, check out Detroit Bad Boys, Need4Sheed, Fear the Sword, 20 Second Timeout, LTD Hoops, and Columbus Cavs.