http://img413.imageshack.us/img413/803/pistonscavsus5.jpg




Cavs, Pistons Clash in Battle for Central Supremacy
By ANTHONY GIORNALISTA, STATS Senior Writer
Posted Feb 4 2007 8:54AM

2006-07 Stats at a Glance (http://www.nba.com/games/20070204/DETCLE/preview.html#stats)
NBA.com Daily Confidential (http://www.nba.com/broadband/daily_confidential.html)


LeBron James (http://www.nba.com/playerfile/lebron_james/index.html) is trying not to let a toe injury slow him down. He'll have enough trouble against the Detroit Pistons' defense.

With James feeling better, the Cleveland Cavaliers look to end a four-game losing streak to the Pistons in the regular season and avenge one of their worst offensive performances of 2006-07 when the teams meet on Sunday.

James, slowed by a sprained right big toe that might bother him all season, had 18 points and 10 rebounds for the Cavaliers (27-20) in a 101-81 win over Charlotte on Friday night.

James was able to rest his toe, which recently caused him to miss two games, during some extended garbage time.

"It felt good the last two nights," said James, who had 17 points in a loss to Miami on Thursday. "It was great to see that it didn't bother me at all coming off a back-to-back."

The star forward had 26 points against the Pistons (27-18) on Dec. 21, but the Cavaliers were held to 34.2 percent shooting in an 87-71 loss. Cleveland, a game behind first-place Detroit in the Central Division, hasn't beaten the Pistons in the regular season since a 97-84 victory on Dec. 31, 2005.

The Cavs took a 3-2 lead over Detroit in the second round of last season's playoffs before the Pistons rebounded to win two straight and advance to the Eastern Conference finals.

James is shooting just 40.1 percent from the field - his lowest against any team he has played at least 10 games against - in 13 regular-season contests versus the Pistons, but most of his struggles came early in his career.

James averaged 18.3 points on 36.1 percent shooting in his first six appearances against the Pistons, but has posted 27.4 points and shot 42.9 percent in his last seven contests against them.

He scored 26.6 points in the playoff series between the teams last season, but was held to two points on 1-of-9 shooting in the second half as Cleveland lost 79-61 in Game 7.

The Pistons continue to be one of the league's premiere defensive teams, holding opponents to 93.7 points and 44.1 percent shooting from the field.
Detroit held an opponent under 90 points for the 18th time this season Friday night, beating Milwaukee 96-86 despite losing some key big men.

The Pistons' problems started before the game, when Dale Davis (http://www.nba.com/playerfile/dale_davis/index.html) was put on the inactive list for missing the morning shootaround. Things got worse in the third quarter, when Rasheed Wallace (http://www.nba.com/playerfile/rasheed_wallace/index.html) benched himself to avoid being ejected.

Wallace picked up his 14th technical foul early in the third quarter, and will get an automatic one-game suspension after two more. Antonio McDyess (http://www.nba.com/playerfile/antonio_mcdyess/index.html), meanwhile, got his second technical foul and was ejected shortly after Wallace's departure.

"It's a joke," said Wallace, who asked coach Flip Saunders (http://www.nba.com/coachfile/flip_saunders/index.html) to take him out because of his anger with the officials.

Wallace has been ejected 28 times in his 12-year career.

"He was frustrated, but he's learning what to do," Saunders said.

Davis, who is frustrated after losing most of his playing time to Chris Webber (http://www.nba.com/playerfile/chris_webber/index.html), said that he didn't sleep through his alarm clock.

"I didn't set it," he said before the game.

Detroit has won two straight and six of eight, while Cleveland had lost seven of 10 before Friday's win.
Copyright 2006 by STATS LLC and Associated Press. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of STATS LLC and Associated Press is strictly prohibited

i hate bron bron hype. please blow them out.
http://cmsimg.freep.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?NewTbl=1&Avis=C4&Dato=20061221&Kategori=SPORTS03&Lopenr=612210806&Ref=PH&Item=4&MaxW=470&MaxH=400

I hate bron bron.

I'm thinking I'm going to enjoy this game way WAY more than the SB.

Nice job e-ray.

Need a big win today at the Palace of Cleveland Hills

Nice to see Sheed going for offensive rebounds and trying to get some tap-outs.

I love having CW on the team, but it seems like he could be injured with a harmless little bump.

He just let Illy push right by him for a rebound and bucket.

Chauncey making some good decisions so far.

JMAX you go too fast and DAMN!

That last sequence sucked. Clev Bucket, TO, Clev Bucket

Thanks for the OGT E

tHAT'S USING YOUR HEAD, gOODEN

Whoa, Bron Bron is about to crack into tears over not getting a superstar call. Fagging out on a Wade level.

Also C-Webb is making a big difference. he's scored on plays where he's caught the ball in a very tough angle to score with big z draped on him.

That last sequence sucked. Clev Bucket, TO, Clev Bucket
steal caused by the fucking ref. bitch made.

nice job on the OGT, e-ray. that's quality stuff :)

i can't believe these bitches took us to 7 games last year.

What the heck is up with the Cav's announcer? "Detroit Turnover"? What a tool!

deeeeeeeeeeetroit tuuuuuuuurnover? imitation is the highest form of praise, but a little lame, especially since the game was over.

Wow... pathetic announcer. Did he look at the scoreboard? That's really sad. If you can't beat them, make fun of them?

The Cavs arena is slavishly derivative of ours, thanks be to Dan Gilbert.
I'm surprised they don't have a Mason soundalike.

The Cavs arena is slavishly derivative of ours, thanks be to Dan Gilbert.
I'm surprised they don't have a Mason soundalike.

And our old announcer.

Missed the game because dishnetwork local hd channels don't work. I hooked up my antenna for the super bowl.

That announcer was LAME. Dumbass. Good game though, nice to see the chosen one get some home cookin boos.

we had a very solid game all around. we had some real defensive lapses, as far as stopping dribble penetration.

and we did make a bunch of careless turnovers. but overall, it was a very good performance.

i just can't believe how bad the cavs played. yes, we had something to do with it. but they never got into any type of rhythm. james was WAY off on several shots and didn't seem to be himself.

all in all, good win. i have to say that was the most dominant 12 point win i've seen in a long time! LOL

here's what bron had to say about us afterwards: "When Ben Wallace was there, you could kind of relax on the offensive end when he was on the floor," James said. "But now they have five guys that can easily score 20 points. They are a much better team with him (Webber)."

does he mean we're better now that we have webber, or that we're better now with webber instead of ben.? hmm.......

well he was talking specifically about the offensive end, since Ben's offense was garbage, clearly our offense would be better.

who cares what he means. he's the last guy i need an assessment from. i still say we need one more player. offensively yes we're better, but offensively the cavs are much worse. thats what hurts them. they are officially lebron and a cloud of dust.

yeah i don't value his opinion either i just find it interesting he thinks that.

and FWIW metroman, he didn't say we were clearly a better offense with webber in there. he said we were a better TEAM.

i personally think this team has a LONG way to go though...

striking out on redd / allen is ultimately going to cost the cavs lebron. larry hughes is not a 70 million dollar player. not even close. and z's game is a horrible fit for lebron.

pistons are now 7-1 in thier last 8 games, i believe. this team can slow foot it to the finals, it appears (save a blockbuster by the bulls). even though the team we play their will be quite a bit better than us, we'd atleast have a chance. webber's been an even bigger boost than i was hoping for.

i still say the bulls are better than us. ben gordon>any guy coming off our bench.

Gordon's been starting.

Gordon's been starting.
i coulda sworn he was coming off the bench.

Well, I watched them play Friday and he started, the announcers said he'd been starting for a few games now.

Gordon has been starting for almost a month now...hes started his last 11 games.....17 for the season....and he was by no means a bench player even when he was "coming off the bench"...he was averaging 30 minutes a game.

started, went to the bench for a long while, but very recently he's back to starting (about the time duhon got injured). right now its probably 50/50 on whether he'll be eligible for 6th man.

he's sick, though. he is probably the best player in the league at making horrible shots. he can make a step back 3 pointer over two defenders as easily as he makes a a wide open jumper. he's one of those guys who would win the three point contest if you let some one guard him.

If he gets 6ths man then that award becomes a joke in my mind....we should start lindsey then...and bring in Chauncey after 4 mins into the quarter...im sure hed get 6th man too...and hed still get his 30+ mins.

ben gordon ain't beating us though guys. come on. he's a great young player but he's no bron james or wade or arenas.

and last i checked it's not him versus our bench only. it would be our TEAM against their team. i think they're going to be tough when they put it all together. but we have more to worry about then ben gordon alone.

The Cavs arena is slavishly derivative of ours, thanks be to Dan Gilbert.

That's what I meant by this...

Need a big win today at the Palace of Cleveland Hills



I'm surprised they don't have a Mason soundalike.

They kinda do have a Mason soundalike.

Also, another win on national TV.

http://www.detroitnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070205/SPORTS0102/702050343/1004

:mccosky:


Cavs' PA man irks Pistons

Announcer does a poor imitation of Mason; "I told him to get your own material," Billups says.

Chris McCosky / The Detroit News

CLEVELAND -- It was late in the game Sunday and the ball went out of bounds under the Pistons' basket.

Cavaliers public address announcer Olivier Sedra yelled, "D-E-E-TROIT TURN-OVER."

Three things were wrong with that. One, it wasn't a turnover. Two, the Cavaliers were trailing by 10 points and were about to be beaten soundly on their home floor. Three, it was a blatant rip-off of Pistons announcer John Mason.

"Man, I told him to get your own material," Chauncey Billups said. "That was terrible."

Pistons trainer Mike Abdenour, Billups and Rasheed Wallace all walked over to have their say to Sedra.

"All he said was, 'I am just doing my job,' " said Wallace, imitating Sedra's deep voice. "I told him to stop stealing somebody else's material. I told him he was making his fame off other people's lines. That's garbage."

I don't blame the announcer. I would bet all the money I ever make in my lifetime that he's been told to rip off Mason every chance he gets.

I don't blame the announcer. I would bet all the money I ever make in my lifetime that he's been told to rip off Mason every chance he gets.What good is a 10$ bet?

Wow, a zeeb sighting.

Stick around, my man.

Yeah, I'm back for good. I am just torn between here, and RealGM as both have Piston fans. I hate the divide.


But, alas, I return, with my glorious sig intact. I think it was Mola who made it. Thing is awesome.

Nice to see you back. I used to go between the two, but there were too many idiots over there to even bother with it. I haven't read anything on there in over a year.