|
DETROIT: The Detroit Pistons continued their bid for
best record in the East Saturday with a victory over Cleveland, but
the Cavaliers still nabbed their National Basketball Association
playoff spot.
Richard Hamilton scored 14 points
for the Pistons in an 85-71 victory over the Cavaliers as they
improved to 30-6 at home.
“I think the way we lost
against them a couple of weeks ago, we were embarrassed to lose like
that,” Detroit guard Chauncey Billups said of his team’s 89-73
loss in Cleveland on March 19. “That is a good team, a really,
really good team, but we felt like when it got tight we didn’t
fight, and that’s really not how we do it around here.
“There are really not that many
meaningful games left with 10 games left, and we can’t really move
up or down but this one is meaningful because that is a team we
could face down the road,” he said.
Detroit had already clinched
their fourth straight Central Division title with a victory
over the depleted Miami Heat Thursday night.
The Pistons shot 51 percent in
the first half and held the Cavaliers to 32 percent shooting as they
took a 49-33 lead at halftime.
Tayshaun Prince, Antonio McDyess
and Hamilton each scored eight points in the first half, while
LeBron James and Zydrunas Ilgauskas led the Cavaliers with seven
points each through two quarters.
James struggled and finished with
just 13 points on 4-of-17 shooting.
The Cavaliers, who made their
first trip to the NBA Finals last season, are holding on to the
fourth seed—one and a half games in front of the Washington
Wizards in the Eastern Conference.
While all the spots in the
Western Conference are up for grabs, the playoff picture in the East
is becoming clearer.
The Cavaliers are the fourth team
in the conference to clinch a postseason slot, joining the Boston
Celtics, Pistons and Orlando Magic. Detroit and Boston boast the top
two records in the NBA.
|
