Cavs/Pistons game 3

[Guest]

Game 2 is over and done with, it's time to move on.
Game 3 at 8:30 tonight and we simply have to have it. Cavs and Lebron have to come out with guns blazing.
Cavs 90 Pisstons 82

[swerb]

Anyone else going tonight? Meet up for dinner & beers downtown around 6?

[Detroit Wahoo]

I'll be bellied up at a bar in Michigan cheering on both the Indians and the Cavs to victory. This has been a pretty good weekend so far as I haven't heard a peep from all the "new" tiger fans. Have fun everybody!

Detroit Wahoo

[buddycowley]

I hope the fans in Cleveland understand just how important this game is to the series. We can only hope that the Cavaliers make the kind of statement that the Jazz made last night in their building.

I hope Wallace gets booed every time he touches the basketball. A lot.

I hope that LeBron gets some of those dunks he had in Game Two this time around. I'd appreciate if he saved them for the 3rd and 4th quarters though.

Larry Hughes makes up for the miss last night and scores in the 20s.

Cavs maintain the 1st half flow into the second, finally, and win by 12.

Buddy

[pup]

YYYYYYYYEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!

[pup]

I have had just about enough Drew Gooden for the night.

[Madre Hill, Superstar]

Put Gooden and Hughes on the floor and the lead evaporates. You don't say.

(Dear God, please let Jerry West stay retired so Danny can package those two in a trade for Kobe.)

[mswerb]

Kobe sucks, a ball hog is not what we need.

[Madre Hill, Superstar]

Kobe > Laura, which is all I really care for right now.

[sandlot33]

one of the best slams by lebron ever

[sandlot33]

this is how lebron should be playing

[Madre Hill, Superstar]

Lebron to the world: STFU

[StewieG]

THAT's the game we've been waiting for!

[pup]

Very nice. Hold court. Take both at home, and play a best of three.

Amazing it only took Mike Brown 95 games to discover that if there are shooters on the floor, the quadruple teams of LeBron happen less often.

Daniel Gibson, thatta boy rook!

[pup]

Favorite part of the night, LeBron giving Gooden the telling him to stop being a bitch and attack. Of course, next time Gooden attacked and Sheed made im look like a bitch anyway.

[Madre Hill, Superstar]

No third-quarter scoring meltdown, Lebron seals the game with a jumper... Now if they can do this in Detroit, we'd be set.

Time to hit Sportstown for a Boobie jersey.

[dpdad]

Amazing it only took Mike Brown 95 games to discover that if there are shooters on the floor, the quadruple teams of LeBron happen less often.

Damn straight. I also loved the "be strong" comment by LBJ. That's the way to show leadership.

[consigliere]

Fantastic win tonight. Now THAT is what we expect from LeBron. Going to the hole....never letting up....taking control of the game and being the unstoppable force he is. The ONLY person who stops LeBron is....LeBron. Hopefully he woke up....because if so this is gonna be an exciting finish to the series these next few games.

[StewieG]

That was a great game by LeBron. Unfortunately I didn't get to see the game until the very end (was at a wedding), but caught the highlights on TNT, and LeBron was fantastic. He made jumpers, took it to the hole, and made them pay. If he plays like that the rest of the series, we'll have a real actual shot to make the finals.

[Dozen]

Get it to a 3 game sreies, then I'll get exited. Good win tonight at gut-check time bet it wont mean anything come Tuesday. However Bobbie is growing up real fast in this league, it's actually refreshing to see a rookie having so much fun.

[jb]

Game 2 is over and done with, it's time to move on.
Game 3 at 8:30 tonight and we simply have to have it. Cavs and Lebron have to come out with guns blazing.
Cavs 90 Pisstons 82

Danm close, all things considered.

[jb]

Lebron to the world: STFU

I was thinking it was many C-town fans telling LBJ "Seee, told jah how you have to play to win this deep in the playoffs."

It'd be foolish for the LBJ enablers/apologists like Lee who are satisfied with LBJ playing poor games to hold this game up as vindication. WRONG! It is the critics who are justified who revel in tonite saying "I TOLD YOU SO! WHERE'S YOUR ASS BEEN?!? "

This is what Bron needs to do EVER'Y playoff game for him to be our MJ and 4 us to win it all.

He needs to treat each playoff game like FLO-RIDA wants a birfday.

[pup]

LeBron was asked about his agressiveness by TNT after the game, about if he noticed himself being different and if so would it continue.

He said yes, he decided to be more agressive and tonight's LBJ is who we would see the rest of the way.

Good. We can beat Detroit with that guy.

But why has it taken so long?

[jfiling]

Lebron to the world: STFU

I was thinking it was many C-town fans telling LBJ "Seee, told jah how you have to play to win this deep in the playoffs."

It'd be foolish for the LBJ enablers/apologists like Lee who are satisfied with LBJ playing poor games to hold this game up as vindication. WRONG! It is the critics who are justified who revel in tonite saying "I TOLD YOU SO! WHERE'S YOUR ASS BEEN?!? "

This is what Bron needs to do EVER'Y playoff game for him to be our MJ and 4 us to win it all.

He needs to treat each playoff game like FLO-RIDA wants a birfday.

I completely agree. I love Kelly Dwyer's comments on SI.com:

James (32 points, nine assists, nine rebounds) was the difference, though. He provided an atmosphere that allowed his teammates to create, doing away with the Zach Randolph impression (holding the ball 20 feet from the hoop, and watching), and keeping on the pressure. It wasn't about doing away with fadeaway jumpers, or getting out in transition -- the reason he was able to take over this game is because he kept the pressure on Detroit's defense by moving incessantly, forcing them to react, and not letting them gather their collective wits. For someone who has been begging for it for years, it was a joy to watch. James turned in as good a playoff performance as we've seen in years. Here's hoping he watches the Game 3 video about 58 times before Tuesday night's Game 4.

[pup]

I usually hate Kelly Dwyer, but if their was a nail around, he just hit it squarely.

[swerb]

Great game last night, and what a performance from LeBron. He was much more active, making Prince work, and when he did have the ball at the top of the key .... he attacked quickly, not letting the Pistons settle into that lethal half court defense where they are so good at funneling LeBron into their bigs.

And on the defensive end, LeBron was as good as I've ever seen him. Prince made 6 buckets, but by my count, 4-5 of them were prayers. His help was excellent, and LeBron was clearly at another level on both ends of the floor last night.

And Boobie, what a game. Linescore doesn't look dominant, but that doesn't say anything about how good he was last night. He guarded Chauncey, Rip, and Prince at points ... and I don't remember him being scored on. He had a couple huge strips. And some huge buckets. The kid just ooooooozes confidence. What a game.

Last nights crowd was the most electric I've ever seen in 30 years as a Cleveland sports fan. The home court advantage provided was tremendous. The fans seemed to will the team to victory. Fans just hanging out outside the Q after the game soaking it in. Car horns blaring. "Let's Go Cavs" and "DEEEE-TROIT SUCKS-MY-BALLS" chants still circulating 30 minutes after the game ended. People with radios cheering on the back end of the Indians accompanying win.

Great stuff. This town is STARVING. Im talking Mel Turpin after fasting for three days an hour after a couple bong rips starving.

And there were two buckets I thought really were the biggest of the game. The thunderous LBJ Phi Slamma Jamma (where he got fouled, then missed) that put the Cavs up 70-68. And Boobie's three ball that made a 74-72 game 77-72.

What a game.

[Mr. MacPhisto]

And Boobie, what a game. Linescore doesn't look dominant, but that doesn't say anything about how good he was last night. He guarded Chauncey, Rip, and Prince at points ... and I don't remember him being scored on. He had a couple huge strips. And some huge buckets. The kid just ooooooozes confidence. What a game.

Gibson is a young player I'm excited about. He's got the fire and hustle and should only get better. The guy works it on the defensive end and can stretch the floor. I believe that he's the future here at the point and I still think Shannon Brown will be big for us in the future at SG. He needs to stay healthy and get more minutes.

Great stuff. This town is STARVING. Im talking Mel Turpin after fasting for three days an hour after a couple bong rips starving.

And I can see the excitement pouring into the Indians when the Cavs season is over. I hope for the best there and think they can pull it off, especially if LeBron brings it every night. If they can get past the Pistons somehow then I actually like the chances against Utah or the Spurs. We went 2-0 on San Antonio this year. They're not the same team now but neither are the Cavs.

Great game and great night. Defeating the Pistons and sweeping the Tigers. If the Cavs can find a way to oust the Pistons and the Tribe can take the next series against the Tigers then Detroit will officially be Cleveland's bitch.

[HoodooMan]

And there were two buckets I thought really were the biggest of the game. The thunderous LBJ Phi Slamma Jamma (where he got fouled, then missed) that put the Cavs up 70-68. And Boobie's three ball that made a 74-72 game 77-72.

My two plays:

1) Same as your first. LBJ not settling for the 3, going hard to the rim, and sticking it in Sheed's ear. Nice.

2) IMO, the clearest difference between LBJ in Games 1 & 2 and last night came to light with under 30 seconds remaining (was it 12ish, maybe?). Pistons are in a zone. What they were giving LBJ was a drive & a dish. He said no thanks, then he proceeded to attack, elevate over Rip, score the deuce, put us up 4, and effectively end the game right there. Very nice.

[Kuiper]

The real advance in this game was not merely Gibson's play, but Snow's failure to play. This is fairly huge. Snow had played something like 270 consecutive games before last night. He has proven capable on defense against the Pistons, although a real liability on offense. With Hughes out (apparently because of injury, but Sager reported during the game that he was cleared to play and could have come back out), Brown would have normally put Snow in at least for some portion of the game, even if paired with Gibson for a stretch. The fact that he didn't, and he even used Damon Jones instead, says as much about the evolution of Brown as a coach as it does about the evolution of Gibson (and the devolution of Snow).

[swerb]

Yes, I give Roker alot of credit for last nights win. Pining Hughes halfway through the 3rd and not going back to him was the right move, albeit one the 13 million dollar man couldn't have been happy with.

As was the decision to not play Snow the last two games.

[Dozen]

The real advance in this game was not merely Gibson's play, but Snow's failure to play. This is fairly huge. Snow had played something like 270 consecutive games before last night. He has proven capable on defense against the Pistons, although a real liability on offense. With Hughes out (apparently because of injury, but Sager reported during the game that he was cleared to play and could have come back out), Brown would have normally put Snow in at least for some portion of the game, even if paired with Gibson for a stretch. The fact that he didn't, and he even used Damon Jones instead, says as much about the evolution of Brown as a coach as it does about the evolution of Gibson (and the devolution of Snow).

If it seriously takes 2 years to realize Snow doesnt belong on the court and almost as long to figure out Sasha deserved to be on it...well, it may be 2014 before he becomes a good coach.