NBA playoffs: Pistons at Cavaliers, Game 2 (Cavs lead 1-0)
The Detroit Pistons didn’t put up much of a fight in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference quarterfinal with the Cleveland Cavaliers, and there’s probably not much of a reason to think they will in Tuesday night’s Game 2.
The Cavs have opened as 11-point favorites on WagerWeb.com, with an over/under of 177.5.
LeBron James dominated in Game 1 with 38 points, eight rebounds and seven assists in the 102-84 victory. Detroit missed 14 shots inside 10 feet, six were layups (Rodney Stuckey missed four) or tips. And the Pistons had just 12 free throws.
“When we get the ball in the paint, we have to finish in the paint,” Richard Hamilton said. “We can’t get the ball in the paint and look to pass it out because they rotate a lot. They do a lot of things defensively, like trying to give you baseline and the opposite guy comes over and helps.”
Detroit’s Tayshaun Prince will play tonight despite having very sore ribs. Prince had just four points on 2-for-7 shooting in Game 1. Prince, however, probably won’t guard LeBron all the time tonight so he doesn’t get even more banged up and to save his energy for the offensive end.
“We’re going to try to limit him as a team and move Tay around a little bit and put different guys on him as well,” Detroit coach Michael Curry said.
Curry said the Pistons would double on James on the outside to keep him from getting into the paint. He also said he may use guards Hamilton or Stuckey to guard James at times to free up Prince to come in on help defense.
“We think they’re going to come out more aggressive on LeBron from the beginning so we have to be prepared,” Cavs coach Mike Brown said. “Whenever he touches the ball they may run an (extra) body at him.”
Cleveland power forward Ben Wallace will probably be held to a 15-minute cap on playing time as he continues to recover from both a broken leg and a strained knee tendon. He played 12 minutes Saturday. The Cavs are 3-5 in Game 2s during the LeBron James era.
WagerWeb.com Trends
* Favorite is 9-1 ATS in the last 10 meetings.
* Under is 29-7 in the last 36 meetings.
* Under is 16-5 in the last 21 meetings in Cleveland.
* Home team is 7-3 ATS in the last 10 meetings.
* Pistons are 5-12 ATS in the last 17 meetings.
* Pistons are 2-6 ATS in the last 8 meetings in Cleveland.
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