Deja vu: Pistons frustrate LeBron again

May 25, 2007, 3:25 GMT

Auburn Hills, MI - Rasheed Wallace scored 16 points, pulled down 11 rebounds and hit the go-ahead jumper with 24.3 seconds left, as Detroit rallied to beat Cleveland and a frustrated LeBron James again, 79-76, in a tenacious ending to Game 2 of the Eastern Conference finals.

Anderson Varejao fell to the floor as Wallace got position in the low post and then drilled a jumper from the right baseline to give the Pistons a 77-76 lead.

Cavaliers coach Mike Brown was screaming for an offensive foul, although after the game Wallace called Varejao's move a flop. Brown though drew a technical on the last crucial offensive sequence for the visitors.

James, who passed up the potential tying shot in Cleveland's loss by an identical score in Monday's Game 1, drove into the lane and made contact with Richard Hamilton and missed. The ball caromed to Larry Hughes for a short jumper left of the lane, but that was off the mark and Varejao's left-handed tip-in try also missed. Hamilton got the ball and was fouled with a second left.

Brown was seething about the no-foul call on James and was given a technical. Chauncey Billups nailed the free throw and Hamilton made 1-of-2 at the line before Varejao missed a desperation shot nearly under his own basket.

'I believe there was some contact, but there's been a lot of contact throughout this series,' James said. 'We're a no-excuse team, and we can't look at the last play as why we lost. We've just got to get better. But I do feel there was some contact.'

Jason Maxiell had 15 points, while Hamilton and Billups each scored 13 for the Pistons, who ended 6-of-11 from three-point range. They won despite an off- night for Tayshaun Prince, who missed all eight of his shots and ended with one point.

The bigger story though was Detroit's defense, which limited James to five points in the second half.

'One thing about our team is we can win both ways,' Billups said. 'We can win in the 80s, we can win in the 105 to 110 range. That's just how versatile we are. We're used to games like this where our defense has to carry us. We've done it for years.'

James had 19 points, six rebounds and seven assists to lead the Cavaliers, but he again passed up a shot that would have extended a Cleveland lead in the final minute.

Game 3 will be Sunday night in Cleveland, but history is well on the side of the Pistons. Detroit, in the conference finals for a fifth straight year, is 18-0 all-time when going up 2-0 in a playoff series.

'I'm sure we feel lucky and they feel unlucky because both teams had opportunities to win,' Detroit coach Flip Saunders said. 'It's one of those games, the ball bounces funny ways, and that's why what you have to do is you want to put yourself in a position to have an opportunity to win. They've played extremely well both games, and we know Sunday is going to be a heck of a game.'

The Cavaliers led 69-65 with under nine minutes left, but turned the ball over on five straight possessions. During that stretch, the Pistons scored nine consecutive points with Hamilton's left baseline jumper capping the burst.

However, Cleveland came back with six straight points on two buckets from Sasha Pavlovic and one from Varejao. Wallace and James then exchanged free throws to leave the score at 76-75 with 1:11 left.

A bad pass from Wallace to Billups led to a turnover, and James then drove into the lane, but passed up a fadeaway shot in favor of moving the ball to Pavlovic to the right corner, the same area Donyell Marshall missed a potential go-ahead three in the closing seconds of Game 1. Pavlovic shuffled his feet for a travel call, setting up the finish.

Varejao had 14 points and 14 rebounds, and Pavlovic added 14 in a losing cause.

After the game, Wallace was asked about his so-called battles with Varejao, specifically the play that led to go-ahead jumper.

'That kid ain't old enough to be in what you'd want to call a battle,' Wallace said. 'They ain't had no battles yet. All that flopping, they need to make that a technical foul for next year. They did everything else to give me technical fouls. That's not defense in the fourth quarter, and I'm glad we have veteran officials to see that.'

Wallace picked up two fouls less than four minutes into the game, but the Pistons managed to hold a 20-16 lead after one quarter, thanks mostly to Maxiell, who had seven points. That included two straight jams, including an alley-oop which boosted the Pistons to a 15-10 lead.

Varejao led the Cleveland surge in the second quarter, as the Cavs moved to a 50-38 lead at the half. Damon Jones' three culminated a 7-0 spurt to start the period. The Cavs used a 13-3 flurry to end the second, with James accounting for five of those points. Varejao had 10 points in the quarter.

The Cavalier lead never got larger than 12 in the second half, and the Pistons rallied behind strong defense and clutch outside shooting. Billups' three capped nine straight Detroit points, drawing the Pistons within 52-49.

'The guys in that locker room, we don't give up, no matter what the deficit is,' Wallace said. 'If we lose, okay, we will deal with losing, but if we go hard and losing then it's fine. But it's just resilience with the guys in that locker room. Veterans, guys that don't want to lose.'

Pavlovic's bucket finally ended Cleveland's drought of more than five minutes without a point, but Chris Webber's hook shot in the lane gave the Pistons a 58-57 lead, their first advantage since the second quarter.

Daniel Gibson and Marshall hit three-pointers in the final minute of the third, giving the Cavs a 63-60 edge going into the fourth.

Game Notes

The Pistons shot 44.4 percent from the floor compared to 40 percent for Cleveland...The Cavaliers have lost 16 of their last 19 games at the Palace.

© 2007 The Sports Network

Game Notes

.