The Spurs are 2007 champs!(much more inside)

[Sauru]

i actually saw the pistons getting hit also. prince got mugged on the play where lebron ended with the wide open dunk. the refs let em play, thats how i wanna see the games played. much rather watch players play then let the refs turn it into a whistle blowing contest

[Matt]

LeBron also goaltended Prince's layup at the end of the 1st half....

Pistons need some more mins for Delf & Davis.

[maes]

The media is terrible... I can't believe that people are actually blaming Lebron for dishing it out to a wide open Donyell Marshall with 6 seconds left instead of jacking up an impossible shot in the lane with 3 Pistons guarding him tight.

Yep, as usual the writers are knuckleheads. They all want Jerry Bruckheimer movies where the hero saves the day at the last second, not basketball games.

Excellent play by LeBron, Yell is a good shooter & was open, and Bron would have been hacked to pieces without a call.

Jordan would have done the same thing.

[Sauru]

only way i would of wanted to see lebron shoot it is if he was on. lebron was off all game though. why then when you are having a rough game would you shoot a hard shot with a man wide open?

[Matt]

because your supposed to be a "superstar"?

[Drex]

We're all talking about this because the shot didn't fell. If Bron shoots and scores, then he's MJ, better than Kobe, you name it. If he misses, then he lacks the killer instinct, will never be on the same level as Kobe, etc. If Donyell or any Cav would've made the shot, then LeBron is a great passer, decision-maker and a great player who trusts in his teammates. But that didn't happen.

[Sauru]

part of being the superstar i guess. still i think he made the right play

[shadowgrin]

It'll be sweet if LeBron crumbles to the pressure right now, or scary when he surpasses it.

[cheater1034]

LeBron had a double team, and he was off all night, and he wasnt getting any calls all night, nothing was going in his favor, but in the corner wide open was donyell marshall coming off of a 6/10 3 pt performance in new jersey after a game 6 victory.

You tell me what you would of done if you were LeBron?

You have to be pretty stupid to say he should of shot it.

[cheater1034]

DAMN, DAMN. Damn cheap dirty detroit.

Thankyou NBA, thankyou for purposely having the cavs lose the game tonight.

This series is not 2-0, this series should be 1-1.

Bullshit, Rasheed threw varejao to the ground with his forearm and no call, then he made the wide open easy shot because of it.

On the other end, LeBron gets nailed by rip hamilton and there's no foul call.

I'm in here screaming, I need to break something or someone right now.

Unbelievable, the officials probably just cost the cavs a NBA Finals birth for the first time in history, THANKS.

*edit*

PS: The cavs have been the better team in this series minus the refs!

I say they can easily win 3 straight as long as nothing as atrocious as that happens.

[ixcuincle]

That series has been a lot more exciting than I had anticipated. Perhaps my dream of a 4 game sweep over those Cavs is not over yet. A win in 5 would do too. I just hope the Pistons don't get too cocky and needlessly extend this series to 7 like last year.

2 games away...perhaps LeBron should hit some shots (and FT's , you see him miss the 1st of 2) in the final minutes.

[n1ka]

lebron is a pussy.

[Donatello]

The officials in this series (DET/CLE) are rididulous. I've never seen worse officiating.

I'm not just whining becuase I think the Cavs should necessarily be winning; though I do like the Cavs and hate the Pistons... the Pistons are just a better team. But this officiating is horrid.

[dan_suth]

cheater1034, you didn't seem to notice that Varejao fouled Rasheed first before he gave him the ol' forearm shove? Also, Varejao is known for flopping quite a bit... and it was quite obvious that he flew WAY farther than he would have if it was a natural fall. And how the hell can you call that shot that Rasheed made easy and wide open? Are you insane?! He shot with a hand in his face and at a very tough angle, and it ended up swooshing for the game winner.

As for the last Cleveland possession where Lebron drove the lane and drew contact.. I think it could have been called a foul. But this is the NBA playoffs and the game is on the line... the refs are obviously letting the players decide who deserves the win. And the Cavs choked - they had 3 chances on that possession to put it in the basket, including a wide open shot by Larry Hughes from 10 feet!

Instead of blaming the officials for your loss, blame the players for not coming up clutch in crunch time. Also, I'd say blame Mike Brown for his coaching... as all 4 of the guys on the TNT crew said, that was incredibly stupid of the Cavs for holding the ball to the very end and going for the winning shot. If they had gone for it with ~15 seconds left, there would still be enough time on the clock to foul after the miss, and worst case scenario they would be down 3 if the Pistons hit both free throws. At least they'd have one more chance to extend the game in that case.

As for the game itself.. the Pistons were definitely outplayed over the entire first half. But who would've thought, Detroit comes up clutch with another huge 3rd quarter and comes up with the win in the end. Billups had too many turnovers again - he needs to play better if they are going to steal a game in Cleveland. Tayshaun too... he's like 1-17 in the first two games! Maxiell played great, Rasheed played great, and thankfully they all came through in such a nail biter. Detroit still has lots of room to improve in this series... but as a fan I'm just excited that they came away with 2 wins after playing semi-lackluster basketball. They can only improve!

[Matt]

Tay is having a bummer of a shooting series so far....and it's not like he's taking shots he usually doesn't.

[n1ka]

lebron has to stop pass the ball every time ! and star make some jumpshots

[Sauru]

yeah, screw your team, just shoot every damn time will ya lebron

[maes]

Agree with dan, good no call on Sheed, LeBron was fouled on the last shot but on game winners refs usually lean towards a no-call.

Very winnable game by the Cavs...but the vets didn't show up, why? Hughes? Z? Why does Gibson have more offensive boards than Ilgauskas?

Pistons won this playing rather poorly, LeBron & the other Cav youngsters played well, but the vets didn't show up so it's 2-0 instead of 1-1.

[shadowgrin]

Rasheed taking a whack at Varejao after a call. Smart move.
Rasheed is now one of my favorite players.

[cheater1034]

The pistons didn't necessarily play at their best, but it's a result of great cleveland defense, the worse defense was in the first quarter then maxiell had all those dunks, otherwise the pistons had some tough shot attempts.

But, sheed extended his arm out and did indeed push varejao to the floor. I didnt see any contact by varejao though? I did see rasheed's arm extended though against varejao's chest, and the reply agrees. And on the last shot by LeBron he was fouled hard, and I understand not calling light fouls, 3 seconds, etc in the final minutes, but when the foul is that hard and obvious they have to call it.

I don't know how you could say a good no call on sheed though (unless you're a detroit fan), he did shove varejao to the floor obviously.

You know, if you're cheering for detroit it's very easy to say good blatant hard no-call? Are you implying just because it's the end of the game you don't call fouls, no matter how blatant they are?

But I'm past it, and I wouldn't expect any less than cleveland to win the next 2, the fans are going to be wild in game 3 I can't wait.

At the Q watch party, I think everybody there agrees with the game being thrown (the stadium was about 1/4 of the way full to watch the game), and everybody I talked to agreed the game was decided by the officials in the final seconds.
*edit*

but regardless, larry hughes should of made the open 10-foot jumper, I think people are pretty much sick of him, I mean, Scot Pollard could of made that shot.

[dan_suth]

At the Q watch party, I think everybody there agrees with the game being thrown (the stadium was about 1/4 of the way full to watch the game), and everybody I talked to agreed the game was decided by the officials in the final seconds.

lol... the game was definitely NOT decided by the officials. They let the players play, and didn't blow any controversial whistles in the winding seconds of the game. I don't know how it could be any more clear that the players decided the outcome of the game last night... Cleveland still had 3 solid shot attempts that all clanked off the rim on their final possession.

Your image is pointless too. Of course the fans from Detroit are gonna vote that it was not a foul on that poll, just like the fans from Cleveland are gonna heavily vote yes. That's also why everybody at your party was all crazy about saying the game was "thrown" - it's just biasedness among fans (an obvious thing). From watching several different TV shows, news stations, and various reporters covering the NBA, it seems like the unbiased fan is not blaming the officials, but blaming Cleveland for not coming through on a golden opportunity.

[maes]

Rasheed fouled Varajao?

If this is not an offensive foul or a push off, please tell me how Rasheed sticking his arm out is a foul.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KYKlaW5iFfs

[cheater1034]

At the Q watch party, I think everybody there agrees with the game being thrown (the stadium was about 1/4 of the way full to watch the game), and everybody I talked to agreed the game was decided by the officials in the final seconds.

lol... the game was definitely NOT decided by the officials. They let the players play, and didn't blow any controversial whistles in the winding seconds of the game. I don't know how it could be any more clear that the players decided the outcome of the game last night... Cleveland still had 3 solid shot attempts that all clanked off the rim on their final possession.

Your image is pointless too. Of course the fans from Detroit are gonna vote that it was not a foul on that poll, just like the fans from Cleveland are gonna heavily vote yes. That's also why everybody at your party was all crazy about saying the game was "thrown" - it's just biasedness among fans (an obvious thing). From watching several different TV shows, news stations, and various reporters covering the NBA, it seems like the unbiased fan is not blaming the officials, but blaming Cleveland for not coming through on a golden opportunity.

Umm, from an ESPN poll, did lebron james get fouled, 49 states said yes, 1 state said no, that state being michigan.

It's not just my image bud.

[dan_suth]

Your image is pointless too. Of course the fans from Detroit are gonna vote that it was not a foul on that poll, just like the fans from Cleveland are gonna heavily vote yes. That's also why everybody at your party was all crazy about saying the game was "thrown" - it's just biasedness among fans (an obvious thing). From watching several different TV shows, news stations, and various reporters covering the NBA, it seems like the unbiased fan is not blaming the officials, but blaming Cleveland for not coming through on a golden opportunity.

Umm, from an ESPN poll, did lebron james get fouled, 49 states said yes, 1 state said no, that state being michigan.

It's not just my image bud.

Like I said...

Your image is pointless too. Of course the fans from Detroit are gonna vote that it was not a foul on that poll .... it's just biasedness among fans (obviously). If ESPN put up a poll that said "Would Cleveland be up 2-0 if the refs were fair?" the state of Ohio would be the only one with an 85% yes rate too. So I don't understand what you were trying to prove with showing that image of the poll.

[Sauru]

FANBOY AHOY!