GAME THREAD: NBA: CLEVELAND (8-3) at DETROIT (9-2)

NBA: CLEVELAND (8-3) at DETROIT (9-2)

<h3>Cavaliers seek to get even with Pistons in East finals</h3>

<div class="pre">Cleveland at Detroit 8:00 pm EDT</div><div class="pre">Eastern Conference finals Pistons lead, 1-0</div>

AUBURN HILLS, Michigan (Ticker) -- LeBron James and the ClevelandCavaliers missed a golden opportunity in Game One.

James and the Cavaliers look to even the Eastern Conferencefinals when they face the Detroit Pistons in Game Two onThursday.

Detroit posted a 79-76 win in the series opener on Monday. Jameshad a chance to lift his team at the end but was passive,taking just three shots in the fourth quarter.

Trailing by two with 36 seconds left, the superstar forwarddrove on Pistons defensive specialist Tayshaun Prince beforekicking to a wide-open Zydrunas Ilgauskas, who missed a jumper.

After an offensive rebound by Larry Hughes, James quickly drovepast Prince - looking like he had a clear path to the basket -and whipped a pass to Donyell Marshall, who bricked a 3-pointerfrom the right corner in the waning seconds.

James, for his part, insisted that he would not do anythingdifferently if the same situation arose again.

"I go for the winning play," James said. "If two guys come atyou and your teammate is open, then give it up, simple as that.You've just got to take what's there. It's not about taking ahigh volume of shots, it's about trying to win the basketballgame.

"You've got to take what's there. We had an opportunity to mewith me taking three shots in the fourth quarter. My game isnot solely on taking a lot of shots. I'm going to continue tosay that. That's the only answer I can give you. We had anopportunity to win."

Detroit point guard Chauncey Billups, who committed anuncharacteristic seven turnovers in Game One, admitted that hissquad also had to pick up its level of play.

"You play the game and you haven't seen it, and you're like,'Man, that was an ugly game,'" Billups said. "Then you look at<div class="pre">the tape and you're like, 'Maybe it wasn't that bad.' But that</div>game, it really was that bad for us.

"We executed, and my performance taking care of the ball andtrying to set the table, it was pretty bad. But we came outwith the win, and that's all really that matters."

Game Three will shift to Cleveland on Sunday.

 

NBA: CLEVELAND at DETROIT

<div class="pre">PLAYOFFS

CLEVELAND VS DETROIT - INACTIVES

CLEVELAND DETROIT

PLAYER NAME REASON PLAYER NAME REASON
D WESLEY COACH'S DECISION R DUPREE COACH'S DECISION
DA JONES COACH'S DECISION W BLALOCK COACH'S DECISION
S BROWN COACH'S DECISION A JOHNSON COACH'S DECISION</div>

 

NBA: CLEVELAND at DETROIT

<div class="pre">PLAYOFFS


CLEVELAND AT DETROIT - PROBABLE STARTING LINEUPS


CLEVELAND DETROIT

F Drew Gooden F Rasheed Wallace
F LeBron James F Tayshaun Prince
C Zydrunas Ilgauskas C Chris Webber
G Larry Hughes G Chauncey Billups
G Aleksandar Pavlovic G Richard Hamilton

OFFICIALS: Bernie Fryer
Jim Clark
Mark Wunderlich</div>

 

NBA: CLEVELAND at DETROIT

<div class="pre">PLAYOFFS

NBA PLAYOFFS
CLEVELAND 5
DETROIT 9 9:00 LEFT, 1ST QTR</div>

 

NBA: CLEVELAND at DETROIT

<div class="pre">PLAYOFFS

NBA PLAYOFFS
CLEVELAND 10
DETROIT 13 5:54 LEFT, 1ST QTR</div>

 

NBA: CLEVELAND at DETROIT

<div class="pre">PLAYOFFS

NBA PLAYOFFS
CLEVELAND 12
DETROIT 17 3:02 LEFT, 1ST QTR</div>

 

NBA: CLEVELAND at DETROIT

<div class="pre">PLAYOFFS

NBA PLAYOFFS
CLEVELAND 16
DETROIT 20 END, 1ST QTR</div>

 

NBA: CLEVELAND at DETROIT

<div class="pre">PLAYOFFS

NBA END 1ST QTR 1ST 2ND 3RD 4TH TOTAL
--- --- --- --- -----
CLEVELAND 16 16
DETROIT 20 20 END 1ST QTR

HIGH SCORERS AFTER 1ST QUARTER

CLE - LEBRON JAMES 7, LARRY HUGHES 4, ZYDRUNAS
ILGAUSKAS 3
DET - JASON MAXIELL 7, RASHEED WALLACE 4,
CHRIS WEBBER 4</div>

 

NBA: CLEVELAND at DETROIT

<div class="pre">PLAYOFFS

NBA PLAYOFFS
CLEVELAND 25
DETROIT 24 9:00 LEFT, 2ND QTR</div>

 

NBA: CLEVELAND at DETROIT

<div class="pre">PLAYOFFS

NBA PLAYOFFS
CLEVELAND 28
DETROIT 30 6:00 LEFT, 2ND QTR</div>

 

NBA: CLEVELAND at DETROIT

<div class="pre">PLAYOFFS

NBA PLAYOFFS
CLEVELAND 37
DETROIT 35 3:00 LEFT, 2ND QTR</div>

 

NBA: CLEVELAND at DETROIT

<div class="pre">PLAYOFFS

NBA PLAYOFFS
CLEVELAND 50
DETROIT 38 HALFTIME</div>

 

NBA: CLEVELAND at DETROIT

<div class="pre">PLAYOFFS

NBA HALFTIME 1ST 2ND 3RD 4TH TOTAL
--- --- --- --- -----
CLEVELAND 16 34 50
DETROIT 20 18 38 HALFTIME

HIGH SCORERS AT HALFTIME

CLE - LEBRON JAMES 14, ANDERSON VAREJAO 10,
ALEKSANDAR PAVLOVIC 6
DET - JASON MAXIELL 11, RASHEED WALLACE 6,
CHAUNCEY BILLUPS 5</div>

 

NBA: CLEVELAND at DETROIT

<div class="pre">PLAYOFFS

NBA PLAYOFFS
CLEVELAND 52
DETROIT 49 6:00 LEFT, 3RD QTR</div>

 

NBA: CLEVELAND at DETROIT

<div class="pre">PLAYOFFS

NBA PLAYOFFS
CLEVELAND 54
DETROIT 53 2:52 LEFT, 3RD QTR</div>

 

NBA: CLEVELAND at DETROIT

<div class="pre">PLAYOFFS

NBA PLAYOFFS
CLEVELAND 63
DETROIT 60 END, 3RD QTR</div>

 

NBA: CLEVELAND at DETROIT

<div class="pre">PLAYOFFS

NBA END 3RD QTR 1ST 2ND 3RD 4TH TOTAL
--- --- --- --- -----
CLEVELAND 16 34 13 63
DETROIT 20 18 22 60 END 3RD QTR

HIGH SCORERS AFTER 3RD QUARTER

CLE - LEBRON JAMES 14, ANDERSON VAREJAO 10,
ALEKSANDAR PAVLOVIC 10
DET - JASON MAXIELL 15, CHAUNCEY BILLUPS 10,
RICHARD HAMILTON 10</div>

 

NBA: CLEVELAND at DETROIT

<div class="pre">PLAYOFFS

NBA PLAYOFFS
CLEVELAND 69
DETROIT 65 8:48 LEFT, 4TH QTR</div>

 

NBA: CLEVELAND at DETROIT

<div class="pre">PLAYOFFS

NBA PLAYOFFS
CLEVELAND 69
DETROIT 72 6:00 LEFT, 4TH QTR</div>

 

NBA: CLEVELAND at DETROIT

<div class="pre">PLAYOFFS

NBA PLAYOFFS
CLEVELAND 71
DETROIT 74 3:02 LEFT, 4TH QTR</div>