Detroit’s Late Surge: What It Means

By Guest Blogger Jesse Lamovsky

It took a while — more than seven periods, to be exact — but we finally got a glimpse of some drama in what had been a wholly un-dramatic first-round series between the Cavaliers and Pistons. After being punched around for a game and three periods, Detroit finally counterpunched.

Image: Newscom

It began early in the fourth period of Game 2 with Cleveland cruising along with a 79-50 lead and the starters, including LeBron James, tucked securely on the bench. The Cavaliers had jumped out to a 12-2 lead, pushed the advantage to 14 at the halftime break, then blew things wide open with a 31-point third quarter. Beaten to loose balls and offensive rebounds and with the old Detroit fire a mere mass of cooling embers, the Pistons appeared to be floating lifelessly through the evening’s proceedings like a dead goldfish.

Then they suddenly came back to life, thanks in no small part to Cleveland’s reserve corps, which took its foot off the gas way too early. In a seven-minute span in the fourth quarter, the Pistons ripped off a 27-5 run to cut that once-gigantic lead down to seven, at 84-77, with 3:50 to play. The catalyst for the spurt was turnovers: the Cavaliers committed five in the span, including three by Delonte West. They also went more than nine minutes without a field goal, missed free throws, gave up offensive rebounds, and basically stopped competing. It was an all-encompassing meltdown, wholly uncharacteristic for a team that has given consistent effort, 48 minutes a night, nearly every night in this magical season.

Eventually Mike Brown brought the starters back onto the floor, and the run stopped. The Cavaliers restored order, pulled away, and won by 12 points. But for the first time in this series, they had shown themselves to be vulnerable. Now the question remains … will that vulnerability carry over into Friday night’s Game Three at Auburn Hills?

Based on recent Cavaliers playoff history, that question can be answered in one of two ways. Twice in the last four postseasons, the Cavaliers have been on the other side of a fourth-quarter rally to tighten up a Game 2 rout. In the 2006 East Semifinals, Cleveland’s 27-12 run cut a twenty-point deficit to five in what ultimately became a 97-91 defeat. In the 2007 Finals, Cleveland went on a 27-6 fourth-quarter run to chop a 29-point San Antonio lead to eight, in a 103-92 loss. The former run seemed to change the momentum of the series; the Cavaliers took the next three from Detroit before ultimately losing in seven. The latter, it didn’t even merit footnote status, as the Spurs finished off the sweep in the Q.

Certainly the Cavaliers brain trust (specifically Mike Brown and LeBron James) remember both runs, and the effect (or lack of effect) each had on its respective series. It’s hard to imagine either man brushing off Detroit’s late surge as inconsequential. My guess is that the team will treat it the same way their San Antonio mentors treated Cleveland’s late run in 2007’s Game 2 — as a letdown to be stamped out and not repeated, not as an anomaly to be dismissed.

Based on what happened between the teams in 2006, the 27-5 charge may turn the series in favor of the Pistons. But I wouldn’t hold my breath counting on it to happen. There is too much focus, too much confidence, and too much LeBron cracking the whip for it to happen.

Jesse Lamovsky is lifelong Cleveland sports fan and a sometimes sports writer. Learn more about Jesse and his writing at swerbsblurbs.com.