Spurs NBA

In a single half, the Detroit Pistons taught LeBron James everything he needs to know about defense in the playoffs - and finished off yet another series comeback.

While Detroit moves on to its fourth straight Eastern Conference finals, the 21-year-old Cleveland Cavaliers superstar is left to ponder his dizzying lesson.

"They trapped me, they went under screens, they went over screens," said James, who was held to one second-half field goal Sunday in the Cavs’ 79-61 Game 7 loss to Detroit. "I’ve seen almost every defense that I could possibly see for the rest of my career in this series.

"That’s why they’re Eastern Conference champions, and that’s why they keep winning."

Playing in his first postseason, James was sensational at times for Cleveland, pushing the NBA title favorites to the brink of elimination.

"There’s nobody on his level that can get his teammates involved like he does," said Tayshaun Prince, who led the Pistons with 20 points. "He sees the plays before they even happen, and no one else does that. That’s the reason this went seven games."

The Cavs were down by only two at halftime; then Detroit simply smothered James in the second half and took command with a 19-6 run that started in the third quarter and ended with a 67-52 lead midway through the fourth. James and the upstart Cavaliers were rendered helpless when it mattered most.

Typical Pistons.

The Cavs led 3-2 in the second-round series and had a chance to eliminate the Pistons at home in Game 6 largely because James, who didn’t live up to the hype - he surpassed it. But what the Pistons can do on defense - when they choose to play with intensity, like in a closeout game - probably is just as frightening for opponents.

Detroit held Cleveland to the lowest-point total in any Game 7 in NBA history; the third-lowest total in any playoff game since 1955; and 23 points in the second half, which tied the fewest scored in a postseason half since the shot clock was introduced a half-century ago.

The Cavs made just 31 percent of their shots and scored fewer points than any team has this postseason.

Take a look at low-scoring records in NBA history, and you’ll see Detroit frequently on almost every list.

"In a pressure situation, you do what you do best, and for us, that’s defending," Detroit coach Flip Saunders said. "We locked down."

In a rematch of last year’s conference finals, Detroit hosts Miami on Tuesday night in Game 1. The Heat have been resting since eliminating New Jersey last Tuesday.

"We can catch our breath for about eight hours," Saunders said.

The Pistons are the first team to reach the conference finals in four straight years since the Chicago Bulls did it from 1990-93. Detroit has remained among the NBA’s elite in recent years by clamping down on defense when necessary; that time arrived in the second half Sunday against a franchise in the second round for the first time since 1993.

James carried the Cavs in the first half, scoring 21 points and outscoring the rest of his teammates, but Cleveland struggled to find open spots after halftime. James finished with 27 points on 11-of-24 shooting.

The Pistons held the Cavs to a franchise playoff-low 10 points in the third quarter, and James didn’t make a field goal in the second half until his three-point play with 4:42 left in the game. By then, it was too late.

James’ teammates didn’t help much, with the only double-figures scorer being Larry Hughes, who scored 10 points in his first action since his 20-year-old brother’s funeral.

Meanwhile, the Pistons had their usual balance on offense, with Prince’s 20 points followed by Richard Hamilton (15), Rasheed Wallace (13) and Chauncey Billups (12).

The previous 12 times the Pistons had a chance to win a series, dating to the 2003 playoffs with four of their current starters, they lost only once - last year in Game 7 at San Antonio, where they fell just short of repeating as champions.

Detroit’s current nucleus is 4-1 in Game 7s, with that lone setback last year motivating them to win a league- and franchise-best 64 victories during the regular season.

The Cavs are 2-1 in Game 7s, with the last decisive game coming in 1992 when James was a 7-year-old kid.

Detroit started and closed the series strong. In between, the teams had one of the tightest matchups in NBA history.

The Pistons won Game 1 by 27 and the next game by six points. After the Cavs won Game 3, they took the next two by two points each and the Pistons avoided a playoff flop with a two-point victory at Cleveland on Friday night.

Boston and Philadelphia, in the 1981 Eastern Conference finals, were the only teams to have more than three straight games decided by two or fewer points, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

James shot 10-of-15 in the first half, while his teammates combined for just 17 points and missed 19 of 24 shots.

James wasn’t outscored by the rest of the Cavs until Drew Gooden made two free throws in the middle of the third quarter to pull Cleveland to 46-45. Detroit responded by building its first comfortable cushion since the opening minutes, scoring 10 of the last 12 points of the third quarter to go ahead 58-48.

"They took it up to another level in the second half," Cleveland’s Zydrunas Ilgauskas said. "We got real stagnant on offense and they showed us a level we hadn’t seen in these playoffs."

Bruce Bowen hit the go-ahead 3-pointer. Jerry Stackhouse missed an ill-advised 3-point attempt.

Playing approximately 36 hours after clinching their first-round series on the road, the San Antonio Spurs made enough plays down the stretch to hold off the well-rested Dallas Mavericks, 87-85, in the opener of the Western Conference semifinals.

Spurs coach Gregg Popovich was not pleased with having to play an afternoon game on Sunday after his team clinched its first-round series on Friday night at Sacramento.

The Mavs had not played since completing a four-game sweep of Memphis on Monday.

"It all depends on how you handle it," Popovich said. "Both teams played well enough to win. We were fortunate to get something to fall in the end. They couldn’t get something to fall. We were fortunate it went our way."

The lack of rest against too much rust theme was resolved in a fourth quarter in which both teams looked tired and out of rhythm.

Bowen made the biggest basket for the top-seeded Spurs, snapping an 84-84 tie with a 3-pointer from the right corner with 2:14 left.

The Mavericks missed their last six shots and made just 2-of-4 free throws in the final 3:28. After Josh Howard split a pair of free throws to tie the game at 84-84, Stackhouse missed a reverse layup and a 15-footer from the right side.

The Spurs broke the tie when Tony Parker drove the lane and dished to Bowen, who drilled his go-ahead 3-pointer. That turned out to be the last field goal of the game.

"During the timeout, Popovich told me to penetrate and either they would foul me and put me on the free throw line, or Bruce would be open in the corner for the three," Parker said. "Bruce was open and he just made a great shot."

Manu Ginobili stole the ball from Dirk Nowitzki on Dallas’ ensuing possession, but missed a reverse layup. Ginobili had another chance to increase San Antonio’s three-point lead, but missed a driving shot in the lane with 36.6 seconds left and then fouled Erick Dampier.

A 59 percent free throw shooter, Dampier missed the first and made the second to pull the Mavs within 87-85.

Ginobili missed again, hitting the front rim on a lefthanded shot in the lane with 13.9 seconds left.

Mavs coach Avery Johnson called a timeout to set up a play and watched in frustration as Stackhouse launched an off-balance 3-pointer from the left sideline as time expired.

"We were trying to get the ball to Dirk," Johnson said. "But if Dirk gets the ball when he is 20 feet away from the basket, we are supposed to have another option. And we just did a poor job of getting the ball to the other option. We were going for the two, and if we had nothing we knew we had a timeout. It’s nobody’s fault. It’s my fault."

Jason Terry took the inbounds pass and gave the ball to Nowitzki - Dallas’ leading scorer - on the right side. Bowen’s primary assignment in this series is to defend Nowitzi, who drove to his left and passed across to Stackhouse. Ginobili deflected the pass, but Stackhouse was able to grab the ball and appeared to have an open 15-foot shot.

However, instead of shooting immediately, Stackhouse retreated to the left corner for a fadeaway 3-pointer that barely grazed the rim.

"The last play was an isolation for Dirk but he got tangled up and the play kind of got broken," Stackhouse said. "I ended up with the ball in the corner and I had to collect it. When I did, I wasn’t sure how much time was left. Once I looked up there was only about three seconds left, not enough time to set up another play. So I just stepped back and tried to get a good look for a three from the corner."

The miss spoiled an otherwise solid game for Stackhouse, who led the Mavericks with 24 points off the bench.

Tim Duncan, who averaged 18.6 points in San Antonio’s six-game series victory over Sacramento, played like a two-time NBA MVP with 31 points and 13 rebounds.

"Well, I really didn’t do a whole lot in the last game (against Sacramento)," Duncan said. " I might have played 30 or more minutes, but we built ourselves a good lead and I didn’t really have to do that much. So maybe that’s why I felt pretty good today."

Parker added 19 points and Ginobili finished with 15, but made just 5-of-14 shots.

Nowitzki, who finished third in the NBA MVP voting for the second consecutive year, scored 20 points on 8-of-20 shooting and grabbed 14 rebounds. But just two of those points came in the fourth quarter on 1-of-4 shooting.

"We played well enough to win the game but didn’t," Nowitzki said. "Both teams have athleticism on the perimeter. Both teams have big guys who can step up. Ultimately, we’re both playing defense first."

Howard scored 17 points and Terry added 14, but made just 6-of-18 shots.

This series matches the two top teams in the conference, although the Mavs are the fourth seed. San Antonio won 63 games and Dallas was second in the conference with 60 wins, but the Mavs were delegated behind the two other division winners who were automatically awarded the second and third seeds.

Game 2 is here on Tuesday, where the Spurs are 38-7, including playoffs.

The series opener featured 12 lead changes and 10 ties.

San Antonio scored the first five points on a shot from the arc by Robert Horry and a layup by Parker. Johnson called a timeout 1:13 into the game to berate his team and the Mavs responded, taking a 29-26 lead at the end of the first quarter and increasing the advantage to 52-46 at halftime.

Duncan scored 20 of his points on 8-of-14 shooting in the first half to keep the Spurs within striking distance.

A driving bank shot in the lane by Howard gave Dallas its biggest lead at 54-46 just 1:22 into the second half.

But the Spurs scored the next eight points to tie the game as Parker hit a 3-pointer and bank shot in the lane.

The Nets are surging again, riding another sort of double-digit win streak. Their confidence is climbing.
And here come the San Antonio Spurs.

"It definitely helps, being on the streak we’re on, and the way we’re playing," said Vince Carter, who scored 43 points at the Meadowlands against the Spurs last season before being ejected in the fourth quarter after a scuffle with Bruce Bowen. "You need to play a perfect game to beat these guys."

Spurs guard Tony Parker has been named to the Western Conference All-Star team. It will be his first appearance in the NBA All-Star game. Tony was one of 14 reserve players selected that were chosen by the 30 NBA head coaches, who were asked to vote for seven players in their respective conferences — two guards, two forwards, one center and two players regardless of position. They were not permitted to vote for players from their own team.

Well, it had it all. The second coming of Antonio Davis. The unexpected loss of Tim Duncan.

You even had Chris Bosh bobble-head night at the Air Canada Centre out of respect for the vastly improved forward who likely will be named to the National Basketball Association’s all-star team later today.

In short, everything was in place for a perfect night on the town for the Raptors, except for the fact the swaggering San Antonio Spurs were the opposition.

Even without Duncan, the former NBA most valuable player who was a late scratch with the flu, the Spurs were able to find a way to persevere — barely.