Cavs finish rare season sweep of Pistons
March 21, 2010
CLEVELAND (AP)—J.J. Hickson(notes) and Anthony Parker(notes) combined for 20 points in thedecisive third quarter and Cleveland beat Detroit 104-79 on Sunday to give theCavaliers their first season sweep of the Pistons in 30 years.
Cleveland held a double-digit lead most of the game, although the Pistonscut it to 55-47 on a basket by Jonas Jerebko(notes) with 10 minutes left in the thirdquarter. Hickson and Parker took charge, combining to score 16 of Cleveland’snext 19 points while Detroit went more than five minutes without a field goal.
By the time Anderson Varejao(notes) scored on a behind-the-back pass from MoWilliams(notes), Cleveland had increased its lead to 76-57. Cleveland led by as much as27 in the fourth quarter.
Hickson finished with 13 points and eight rebounds, Parker had 11 points andLeBron James(notes) had 15 points and seven assists while sitting out the fourthquarter. Leon Powe(notes) and Delonte West(notes) scored 16 and 15 points, respectively, offthe bench.
Cleveland has won 10 straight against Detroit, including last season’sfirst-round sweep in the playoffs. Cleveland hadn’t swept Detroit during aregular season since going 6-0 against the Pistons during the 1979-80 season.
Jason Maxiell(notes) had 16 points for Detroit and Charlie Villanueva(notes) had 11 offthe bench.
The Cavaliers are 12-1 since Shaquille O’Neal’s(notes) thumb injury left themwithout a true center on the roster. While Hickson has filled in admirably, thatmay soon change. Cleveland could have Zydrunas Ilgauskas(notes) back in time for itsnext game Wednesday at New Orleans.
Ilgauskas was dealt to Washington at the trade deadline as part of athree-team deal that brought Antawn Jamison(notes) and Sebastian Telfair(notes) to Cleveland.Ilgauskas’ contract was subsequently bought out, allowing him to re-sign withCleveland as early as Monday.
On Sunday morning, the Cavaliers quietly hoisted a banner celebrating thisseason’s second consecutive Central Division championship. Cleveland was thefirst team this season to clinch a division. Much like last year, noannouncement or formal ceremony was held to celebrate the third division titlein franchise history.
^Notes: Cleveland outrebounded Detroit in the first half 23-11. The Cavs hadas many offensive rebounds (11) as the Pistons had in the half. … James washonored before the game for becoming the youngest player to reach 15,000 pointsin his career (25 years, 79 days). He surpassed Kobe Bryant(notes) (27 years, 136 days)on Friday. … Darnell Jackson(notes) was recalled from the NBA Development Leagueafter spending one day with the Erie BayHawks. … Detroit’s Ben Wallace(notes) missedthe game after injuring both knees in a loss Friday to the Pacers. … RodneyStuckey(notes) returned to Cleveland after collapsing on the court there during atimeout on March 5. Sunday was his second game back.