Recap: (14) Really? Is this all we have to be concerned with?

Overview: Behind a stifling defense and sparkling performances from James, West, and Williams, the Cavs manhandled the Pistons into submission through the first three quarters, only to give the Pistons a breath of life by getting outscored 17-32 in the final quarter. The final outcome, however, was only in any sort of conceivable peril for a fleeting moment.

Cavs-Related Bullets:

More of LeBron just wanting to destroy everyone. 17 free throws means that they can’t stop him from getting to the basket and he doesn’t want to stop going. This was a bit of an uglier game than game 1, and LeBron was ugly-effective, getting to the line over and over again. He was also mixing it up, judiciously going to the post and refraining from shooting midrange jumpers until the fourth quarter, with two of his three misses from that range coming on the Cavs’ final two possessions. Add that to the 13 rebounds, and this game was all about LeBron James just physically overpowering a team with nothing approaching an answer for him. 

Delonte and Mo were great tonight as well; the open threes and layups weren’t there as much, but they had their dribble-drive and midrange games going, Mo was anything but gunshy after a weak debut, and Delonte was scrapping as always, fighting offensive boards out of much bigger hands. 

The main concern here is the second unit. One field goal off the bench is probably not going ot cut it, and there was some serious hemorraging of points when the second unit got out there. 

Do I worry a little bit about that last run giving the Pistons confidence heading into their homecourt? I chalk that run up more to Will Bynum being about the only person on that team giving a crap right now, so I’m not going to freak out about it or anything. 

I don’t think you can say this series is in the fridge until we get one in Detroit-I mean, you can say it, and you might even be right, but it doesn’t do much. Think of the last two times we met this team in the playoffs, when they beat us twice on their floor and thought they were coming to Cleveland to mop up. Is the talent gap between the teams much, much, wider now? Yes. But Karma is a bitch. So I’m not going to get too cocky. Hell, I’m not going to believe these Pistons are dead until the clock reads 0.00000000 on the fourth win. I’ve spent too many nights awake because I think I can hear “Deee-Troit BASKET-BALL” somewhere off in the dark recesses of my mind. 

Bullets Of Randomness:

How awesome is it that Will Bynum fills the role everyone thought AI would flourish in all year, and they’re still not very good?

LeBron finished 2nd in the DPOY voting, and judging by how Detroit’s perimeter players have done so far, he looks to be backing it up. 

See you after we get done with our first game in Detroit in a little while. I keep feeling like something kinda cool happened during our last playoff game…

That’s Joe Smith Rapping. And you thought I was going to post the 48 video. Clearly, this is much greater. Enjoy this forever.