Beast of the East!
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"I told Daniel before the game, I said, 'I believe Detroit is going to double-team me, triple- me before I cross halfcourt, so get that gun and get it locked and loaded and just shoot it, don't second guess yourself, just shoot it." - Cavaliers forward LeBron James
Daniel Gibson drains his fifth three-pointer of the night in Saturday's Game 6 win. 
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Gregory Shamus NBAE/Getty Images |
Last season, the Cavaliers unmasked the Pistons, despite losing a semifinal series in seven tough games. This season, they drove a stake into their nemesis to the north – dropping Detroit in six with a lopsided 98-82 victory on Saturday night at The Q.
The Cavaliers haven’t gone to the NBA Finals in the 37-year history of the franchise, but will embark on uncharted waters this Thursday when they face the team they were modeled after.
The Cavaliers became just the third team -- and the first since 1993 -- to come back to win a Conference Finals after falling behind 0-2.
"One thing I preached to my guys is one-day, one-game-at-a-time, and if we truly do that -- if we truly focus on one day, one game at a time -- then it doesn't matter how many wins you've got to get in a row because you're not thinking beyond the next game," said Head Coach Mike Brown. "And I think our guys believed that and they tried to follow that and that's why it didn't seem insurmountable when we went down 0 2."
LeBron James wowed the world in Game 5 on Thursday night in Motown, but it was his young protégé from Texas who delivered the goods in the deciding Game 6. Daniel Gibson – who came alive against New Jersey and became a household name against Detroit – netted 19 of his game-high 31 points in the fourth quarter, propelling Cleveland into a Finals matchup with Tim Duncan and the powerhouse Spurs.
The precocious rookie drilled all five three-pointers he attempted and was 7-for-9 from the floor overall. He was just as adroit in drawing contact – making 15 trips to the line and canning 12 of those shots. Gibson added six boards and a pair of dimes to his game-deciding effort.
Boobie’s barrage came just as the Pistons had crept back into contention. Late in the third, the Pistons had pushed past the Cavaliers – 63-61 – on a pair of Antonio McDyess free throws. But over the next nine minutes it was all Gibson – with a dash of James – as the Wine and Gold exploded to start the fourth.
"From day one, LeBron has been in my corner," said Gibson. "He told me from day one he was going to make me something special, he was going to do whatever he could to make me better.
"He told me to keep shooting, don't hesitate, don't worry about anything else. And when a guy tells you that, you step to it with a lot of confidence and knock it down for him."
The young buck with the million-dollar-smile hit a runner with 4:36 remaining to all-but ice the Cavaliers’ historic trip to the NBA’s Promised Land. His 19-point fourth was a franchise-best in a single quarter and his 25-point second stanza ties a Cavalier record for points in a half.
LeBron James, who was handed the Eastern Conference trophy by Hall of Famer Bill Russell following the game, turned in another brilliant floor game. He took just five shots in the first half, determined to get his teammates involved one game after single-handedly dominating Detroit.
James netted 20 points – going just 3-of-11 from the floor but 14-for-19 from the stripe – with a game-high 14 boards, eight assists and pair of steals.
James’ steal and layup-and-one sent the frenzied sold-out crowd at The Q over the top early in the third. Only Rasheed Wallace’s double-technical ejection less than three minutes later gave the 20,562 frothing fans more delight.
"It's unbelievable," smiled LeBron, who promised to light Cleveland up like Vegas and produced on Saturday. "You can have so many struggles during the course of a season, so many people criticizing your team -- 'They don't have enough pieces, they're not a good outside shooting team, Coach Brown lacks this, LeBron lacks this' -- but we've also believed and it's always been 15 guys in the locker room that just believed and we have a special team."
The Cavaliers led by six – 27-21 – after one quarter, but a technical malfunction with the shot-clock caused a 21-minute delay and stalled some of Cleveland’s momentum. Detroit took over in the second quarter and by intermission had tied the cold-shooting Cavaliers at 48-48.
Detroit kept the pressure up in the third, but the Cavaliers refused to fold – taking a one-point lead into the final period.
By that point, Boobie had begun to percolate and the madhouse on Huron and Ontario took over from there. The second-half of the fourth quarter was merely academic.
The only other player to notch double-figures was Zydrunas Ilgauskas – the Cavaliers last remaining link to their Playoff past – who posted his fourth double-double of the postseason with 11 points and 12 boards. Big Z, who had endured one foot surgery after another and saw the Cavaliers endure the 17-win season that produced LeBron James, was an efficient 5-for-9 from the floor in just 22 minutes of action.
The Pistons – who have now dropped Game 6s in back-to-back seasons despite entering the Playoffs as the East’s top seed – were led by Rip Hamilton, who finished with 29 points. Chris Webber followed up with 13 and Rasheed Wallace added 11 before being shown the door midway through the fourth.
"I feel bad for the guys on the team," lamented Chauncey Billups, who finished with nine points and just a single assist. "We’ve had a great year and for it to come to an end like this. We put a lot of work in, but it was a tough one out there today. The fourth quarter just got too far away."
Before Saturday night’s dramatic win, the Cavaliers as a franchise have never played a ballgame in June. After their first victory in that month – they’re ready for at least four more, beginning on Thursday night in San Antonio.
"We’re not done yet," said guard Larry Hughes. "We have a goal in mind and that’s to win a Championship. The Eastern Conference Finals, we got that under our belts, now we have to win the whole thing."
