Empty the Bench

Cleveland 88, Detroit 82

Finally, after two so-so performances in his first Conference Finals series, the man who would be king delivered. With Cleveland’s season on the line in Game 3 against the Detroit Pistons, Lebron James hit the court running with a few early, thunderous dunks in transition and never really got untracked for the rest of the night. Star players worthy of the accolades James has perhaps prematurely been showered with cement their legacy by stepping up in crunch time, and in the fourth quarter that’s just what he did.

There was a step-back three-pointer from the corner in Tayshaun Prince’s face. There were layups in traffic. There were swishes as the shot clock expired. And in one particularly brutal sequence in the fourth quarter that seemed to turn the tide toward Cleveland, Lebron James drove to the hole, raised up, and absolutely posterized Rasheed Wallace with an in-your-face dunk that also drew a foul. It pains this lifelong Pistons fan to say it, but that was one of the most emphatic statement plays I’ve seen this postseason. You just don’t see ‘Sheed get dunked on like that, ever. All the credit in the world goes to Lebron James for willing his team to victory last night, especially after all of the criticism–some deserved, some misguided–he endured after Games 1 and 2 in Auburn Hills. On the night, James came up just shy of a triple-double, with 32 points (12-21 FG), 9 boards, 9 feeds, and 2 steals.

While James is single-handedly responsible for about 75% of this win, he was assisted with key contributions from his ragtag supporting cast, most notably rookie Daniel Gibson. Gibson’s box score (9 points, 2 boards) belies his contributions this evening, as both his field goals came from beyond the arc at key points in the game, and perhaps most surprisingly it was his post defense on the much bigger Chauncey Billups and, after a switch, Tayshaun Prince that really helped frustrate Detroit. Sasha Pavlovic also helped cover up the ongoing disappearing act of Larry Hughes (hobbled by a sprained left foot) by nailing a few improbable shots late in the shot clock, finishing with 13 points on 5-8 FG and 5 assists, 3 rebounds, and 2 steals.

For Detroit, they once again suffered from extremely poor play from their all-star backcourt. If you hadn’t watched the NBA over the past few years and flicked on last night’s game, without question you’d wonder why Chauncey Billups will be considered the top free agent on the market this summer. As Steve Kerr wrote today for Yahoo! Sports, “one bad game is a fluke. Two bad ones is a trend. Three in a row? It’s a reality.” Billups has looked all kinds of out of sorts this series, and as bad as he looked in the first two contests, last night was his biggest stinker yet. The shooting was bad enough (4-14 FG, 2-8 three-pointers), but it’s the lack of assists (3) and high number of unforced errors and bone-headed plays (5 turnovers) that’s especially alarming. Billups is widely considered one of the most solid, cool-headed floor generals in the league, but against Cleveland he’s been one of its worst.

The Pistons’ offense is at its best when the ball is moving from side to side and all five players touch it at least once in the half-court set before a shot. So far, it’s just not happening, and some of that blame lies at the feet of Billups, who isn’t exuding the kind of confidence he’s known for and is struggling to get his teammates set up in a position to succeed. The one-on-one post-ups and drives stagnant this offense to no end, and Detroit must get back to what they excel at if they hope to turn it around. That’s where head coach Flip Saunders must prove he’s the offensive genius advertised and make the proper adjustments moving forward; so far, he hasn’t done it. Larry Brown could be the one drawing up these plays.

Rip Hamilton was simply a non-factor, going 2-8 from the field for just 7 points. Hobbled by a sprained ankle, Tayshaun Prince finally hit some shots, but missed an open three-pointer late in the fourth that would have cut the Pistons deficit to just 1 point. (A. Sherrod Blakely wonders if Prince’s ankle injury had a lot to do with Lebron’s breakout performance.) Rasheed Wallace remains the Pistons’ MVP of this series, as he hit two huge three-pointers to get the Pistons back in the game late and finished with 16 points. Chris Webber also had a nice bounceback effort (15 points, 7 boards, 3 assists), though foul trouble limited his impact in the second half.

Game 4 is Tuesday night in Cleveland (8pm, TNT), and will prove to be the real defining moment of this series. If the Cavs win and even the series, well, we have a series. But if the Pistons steal this one on the road and head back to Detroit with a chance to close it out, our “Pistons in five” prediction will be looking good. Honestly, we thought last night’s contest would be a lop-sided win for the Cavs and are surprised it was a close one. Expect another grind-it-out affair tomorrow with so much at stake. If the Pistons’ maligned backcourt snaps out of their funk, look for Detroit to win. If they don’t, you have to like the Cavs’ chances.

For more on last night’s Cleveland win, check out Fear the Sword, 20 Second Timeout, Brian Windhorst’s Cavaliers Blog, Pistons Insider, and The Detroit News Pistons Blog.

Tonight:

San Antonio at Utah, 9pm ESPN: Deron Williams, the Jazz’s standout second-year point guard, is looking more and more like a young Jason Kidd (with a better jump shot). In the pivotal Game 3 Utah blowout win, Williams was nothing short of spectacular, scoring 31 points, 8 assists, 5 steals, and 4 huge three-pointers. If he can duplicate that effort tonight, we like the Jazz evening up the series. Let’s go Utah!