The Cavaliers were slightly off their game Friday night but with major help from the bench they were able to come away with a 79-68Â victory over the Detroit Pistons and take an almost insurmountable 3-0 series lead(no team has ever won a best of 7 series after trailing 0-3).
The starting backcourt of Mo Williams and Delonte West combined 1-18 and only 4 points collectively. Cleveland’s starters only managed 49 points with LeBron claiming 25 of them, James missed a triple double by only 1 assist, he had 25 points 11 rebounds and 9 assists.
It was a great time for Joe Smith to have his playoff career high draining 6-8 from the field and 6-7 from the foul line scoring 19 points and grabbing 10 boards. His previous high this year was only 13 and that came way back when he was still a member of the Thunder.
The Cavs kept a steady lead for most of the game until late in the 3rd when Detroit went on a run and the game headed into the 4th quarter tied at 53. Halfway through the quarter Mo Williams threw up an alley-oop to James, in the midst of an 18-2 run by the Cavs that helped them to seperate themselves and eventually finish off the game.
The Cavaliers for the most part of the first 3 quarters looked terrible, but to play that poorly and still come away with a victory, and a road win on top of that is remarkable. It truly speaks volume for NBA coach of the year Mike Brown and his teams defensive mentality. Everyone was wondering what the Cavaliers would do when they faced adversity, well they took the test and they passed with flying colors.