Another slight positive was that the refs called it pretty even. Aside from a few dicey calls, the Cavs pretty much had to earn it from the floor.

The game was close, but in the end it was La Bron stepping it up and hitting that game winner with about 21 seconds. The Pistons D held him in check in the third, but those 12 in the 4th were huge. The Pistons also let Z get off again and also let Gibson & Gooden beat them. Cavs finished with 49% shooting.

On the Piston side, Webber and Prince provided their average contributions, but Rip and CB didn't appear to get on the plane and fly over to Cleveland. Sheed who was big in the 4th in games 1 & 2 only scored a FT in this one.

Overall, the Pistons scoring and offense is still off due to the numerous turnovers (15). Still it wasn't a blowout as some had predicted. The Pistons won the third but didn't take an opportunity to take control of the game in the third when Labron was shut down. Also they didn't take advantage of the bonus when they could have with 6 mins left in the game. In other words, they were not aggressive enough when they could have stolen this one. Put some blame on Flip sr too for leaving the first half hero of game 2 on the bench...I mean Jmax got on 2.5 mins....why wasn't he in there to begin the 4th?

I don't get into chat very often, but I decided to stop in tonight for the 4th quarter. I thought I'd let off a bit of steam about some of the bogus calls we were getting. My wife was sleeping and normally she gets the brunt of my venting. She's even less sympathetic to my ramblings when I wake her up.

But boy, was I disappointed in the negativity and pessimism in there. I was more upset about by the chat than I was by the game! People were giving up on the team half way through the 4th Q.

Did I like the way the team was playing tonight? No

But did I think that it was "over" with 5,4,3,2 minutes left, down 2,4,6,8 points? No.

I just had to get that off my chest. I think next time I'll just wake up my wife.

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Chat has seemed to get that way, Jammertime. When the Pistons struggle, people either get very negative or just bail. The Pistons can certainly frustrate us at times, but all teams go through their ups and downs.

I don't know, it seemed like a mostly realistic assessment tonight. The Pistons made a nice comeback to give themselves a chance to steal it late, but LeBron hit another superstar shot to put it away. That can happen when you're playing from behind against a team with a player like that. And there's nothing to say but negative things about the way Rip and CB were playing.

Bill its been 3 straight games and the Pistons still can't find their rhythm. They collectively look awful on the offensive side of the ball. Missed bunnies, TO's, dangerous passes etc. Maybe they don't know the next step is the Finals.

Cleveland plan on defense: Take the ball out of Billips hands. He is slow to pass out of doubles. Harass him with hands when he is in the lane. After game 1, make Rip into a passer. Result: no flow or effective adjustment. Our bigs score more. We let Prince handle the ball more. But Prince has been making the same kind of turnovers as Billips and Rip.

So far, our adjustments-- like letting the ball come back to Billips on the side, have not been good enough. The Murray stint was not surprising as many of us have been calling for a penetrator. Strangely, Cleveland is not a great defensive team from the point of view of speed or atleticism.

As bad as the Cavs offense is, they are getting some looks as a result of ball movement. Our offense has been a series of one on one counters. Only Sheed and Webber made some noise.Tay hit a few shots so we posted him up out of a flow. You go at Z and get fouls on him like Webber did. Our offense is trying to exploit mismatches here and there. It is disjointed.

All three games (except game 2--third quarter) they have dictated play.

Dyss is overmatched against Z. I would prefer Davis.

We have to play with a much more frantic defense. We have to be way smarter on offense and with more confidence, ball movement, aggresiveness and purpose.

Yeah in Chat, most bail if the Pistons get behind by double digits or a comeback seems impossible. Others hang in there to the end and will be critical on some posts, and hopeful on others. With the closeness of the last two games, some thought it was over when the Cavs went up 84-76. In essence it was over since the Pistons never got to 84.

If you are watching game at home by yourself or with your disinterested spouse, then Chat is the place to vent and criticize all the way to the end.!!

One thing I noticed is that when Gibson defended Tay, he was quick enough to get in and poke some balls away. Reminds me of how DWade played him in the past. Tay needs to hold that ball away from the defender, which he normally does.

I kind of expected a flurry by the Cavs, but it's still a one man show. The others finally got some points is all. The big hurt was Rip's lack of offense. 7 points?? He gets his usual and it's no contest.