Round Two, Game Two: Detroit Pistons 97, Cleveland Cavaliers 91

PISTONS.COM

PLAYER OF THE GAME

Rasheed Wallace Points: 29 Rebounds: 9 Blocks: 2 3PM-A: 3-8 Minutes: 41

On Game 3 in Cleveland:
“We go to Cleveland, its 2-0. No one’s going to keep track of what the score is in the game, its 2-0. We did what we had to do at home, now we know we’re going to go there. So for us, they did some things we’ll look at and there’s some things that we can evaluate and probably do a little bit better, and I’m sure there’s things that they’re going to evaluate and think they can do better.”

On the fourth quarter:
“Whichever team is the most aggressive is the team that’s going to make runs and I thought that they got aggressive and we didn’t. As a coach, I took a calculated gamble trying to have our starters start the fourth and maybe try and push it up. Our guys, there’s no question, they were tired in the fourth quarter.”

On not leading the team in scoring tonight:
“It’s fun because everybody knows you have to pick your poison. I knew tonight that we were going to try and get the ball into the post with Rasheed and Tayshaun. One thing I was trying to do was stay aggressive and play in the system.”

On the Cavaliers playing at home with more confidence:
"Any opportunity you get to play in front of your fans, you want to have a lot of confidence. We know that we've got to go there with a different game plan and just approach playing on their court.”

On maintaining a lead despite Richard Hamilton’s shooting struggles:
“Rip is obviously our best scorer and he’s the guy we go to most of the time, but he’s not our only weapon. Everybody knows that. Rip can have an off night. The pressure is not on him to have a big night every night because of our team and the makeup of our team.”

On the Pistons’ ability to lock down defensively in the clutch:
“That’s important because, of course, we feel like defense is what wins games and we’ve proved that over two years now. When things get tough, you can’t always depend on offense and your shots going (down). We never really did; we depend on making sure their shots don’t go.”

On LeBron James:
“About 85 percent of the time the ball is going to be in his hands, so we just have to try to make him make passes. He made a few passes tonight to Drew (Gooden) and (Anderson) Varejao but that’s what we tried to do - keep the ball out of his hands as much as possible.”

On rebounding:
“Honestly, it’s just playing and trying to beat Ben (Wallace) to the ball. Ben snags all the rebounds, sometimes we’re down there fighting and I figure if I get a step or two then I might be able to beat him to the ball.”

“If we want to get to the point where the Pistons are and where the Spurs are, which I truly believe we can, then we’re going to have to do a better job for 48 minutes. We didn’t do it today. Having said that, I am proud of what our guys did in the second half. They didn’t hang their heads. We’ve been like that the entire year where we’ve been knocked down but we bounce right back up and we keep attacking.”

On whether or not they bounced back from their Game 1 loss:
“The one thing about this team (the Pistons) is that you can’t get down on them because it’s so hard to come back on them because of how defensive-minded they are. The one thing I like about our team is we kept our composure tonight and gave them a run for their money. We just kept playing hard.”

On how they can step up the pressure in Game 3:
“We’ve just got to be more focused, key in on the defensive end and just try go guard everybody individually and then rely on help instead of relying on help first.”

On if the second half makes them feel better:
“It makes us feel better because we understand what we have to do to be in the basketball game. And with that said, we just have to improve on things that we did in the second half and make some adjustments here and there and then go from there.”

On multiple weapons of Pistons:
“Guys didn’t shoot the ball particularly well for them, but when you get to the free throw line as many times as they did you are going to have a rhythm and you’re going to have a good night. We just need to play solid defense without fouling and get out in transition and do what we did in the second half.”

On the Rasheed factor:
“He’s a big factor. I think one of the tougher teams to play is when you have your center or power forward that can stretch the defense and shoot threes because it’s kind of like you have to pick your poison. Do you help off and help the other guys to keep everyone honest, especially on this team, or not?”

On Pistons tough defense:
“They’re forcing us to make basketball plays. I think if we make normal basketball plays then we will be better offensively, but we’re trying to force things and do too much. I think we’ll be more stagnant on offense.”