AUBURN HILLS, Michigan (Reuters) A scowling, growling LeBron James flirted with a triple double to help the Cleveland Cavaliers push the Detroit Pistons to the brink of playoff elimination with a clinical 79-68 victory on Friday.
After six consecutive trips to the Eastern Conference finals, the Pistons appear to have finally run out of gas in this year’s quarter-final matchup.
Soundly beaten in the opening two games of the best-of-seven series on the road, the Pistons had hoped to make a home court stand but were again overwhelmed by James and the Cavaliers, who can complete a sweep with a Game Four win today.
James, who had averaged 33.5 points in the opening two routs, could not match those efforts but had 11 of his 25 points in the fourth quarter to break open a tight contest that had been deadlocked at 58-58 with 10 minutes remaining.
The all-star forward also had 11 rebounds and nine assists to just miss out on his fourth career post-season triple-double.
Joe Smith came off the bench to contribute 19 points and 10 rebounds for Cleveland, while Zydrunas Ilgauskas chipped in with 13 points and six boards.
BROWN EXCITED
“It was a physical game and LeBron thought he was getting hit on drives, particularly in the third quarter, he was looking at the officials for the call,” Cavaliers coach Mike Brown told reporters.
“LeBron is a big strong man and his skill is off the charts. Once he decided, ‘I’m not getting any calls I’m going to will this team to win; I’m going to will myself to the rim’. Once he decided to do that our whole team changed.
“Just sitting there and watch him flip that switch was very exciting to me. It gives me a rush thinking about it.”
Back in the Palace, the Pistons were initially energized by the capacity crowd and Rodney Stuckey opened the scoring with a crowd-pleasing, booming dunk as Detroit raced to 8-0 lead.
However, James soon hit back with a dunk of his own then fought off a Pistons defender in dropping a fade away jumper to slice the advantage 8-4, reminding the Detroit crowd why he is tipped to walk away with MVP honors this season.
By the end of opening quarter, the Cavaliers had erased the Detroit lead and leveled the contest at 18-18 before going on to take a 44-37 edge into the intermission.
The Pistons opened the second half with 10-2 run to nose in front 47-46 then battled toe-to-toe with the Cavaliers to leave the game delicately poised at 53-53 after three quarters.
After scoring just two points in the third, James took charge in the fourth as Cleveland out-scored the Pistons 26-15.
“There is no such thing as easy when the playoffs start,” James added. “To be up 3-0 is a great feeling but it’s not easy. I wish I could say it was easy but it’s not. We have a really big goal this year and one thing about us we approach every game like it’s our last.”
