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Saturday, May 13, 2006 at Quicken Loans Arena, Cleveland, OH

Round Two, Game Three: Detroit Pistons 77, Cleveland Cavaliers 86

Boxscore | Recap | More Photos | Video
The Pistons dropped Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals to the Cavaliers, 86-77, on Saturday. Richard Hamilton led Detroit with 22 points and Chauncey Billups scored 20. The Pistons held a 10-point lead in the second half but were unable to keep up the pace down the stretch. Game Four is Monday at 7:00 p.m. on TNT.
Game Three Leaders
Points:(DET) Richard Hamilton, 22
(CLE) LeBron James, 21
Rebounds:(DET) Ben Wallace, 13
(CLE) LeBron James, 10
Assists:(DET) Two Players Tied, 5
(CLE) LeBron James, 10
Blocks:(DET) Two Players Tied, 1
(CLE) Donyell Marshall, 2
POSTGAME QUOTES
PISTONS.COM
PLAYER OF THE GAME
Richard Hamilton
Points: 22
Assists: 5
Steals: 2
3PM-A: 2-2
Minutes: 43
Pistons Guard Lindsey Hunter

On the game:
“We pretty much had the tempo the way we wanted it throughout the game. Costly turnovers allowing LeBron (James) to get some really easy baskets in crucial situations I think hurt us. They did an excellent job throughout the game staying in front of him. LeBron handles the ball 99% of the time. A couple of times we let him get those feel good baskets. We did not execute down the stretch like we normally are accustomed to doing.”

On LeBron:
“The difference with LeBron and some of the other guys is he is so unselfish. No matter what he trusts his teammates. Tonight guys responded. Guys hit shots and guys made plays. He gives them opportunities to do that. Still being able to take over games and make big shots. Something we have to deal with.”

"Both teams have done what they wanted to do, that is win at home. The next game we will come out and try to get that game and try to make it a series. They did a great job. You have to give them credit. They are a young team.”

Pistons Center Ben Wallace

On losing game three:
“We had control of the game. We gave them opportunities to get back in it and they took advantage of it…It’s been a series. They played a little bit better than they played in Detroit. We are still focused and poised. We are not going to let this get to us. We are still good.”

Turnovers for Detroit:
“Where we turned the ball over allowed them to get the ball out on the break. It didn’t give us a chance to get our defense set. We just got to take better care of the basketball. Not turn the ball over, especially when those turnovers lead to the fastbreak.”

On LeBron James:
“He did a great job early in the game of moving the ball around. Getting guys cutting to the basket. Getting a couple of lay-ups. Now you have to play him by the harness. It opened up things for him and allowed him to get to the basket.”

On the game:
“You have to give them all the credit. They won the game.”

Pistons Forward Rasheed Wallace

On the game:
“We had a little breakdown. Still give them credit they beat the game. That is the bottom line. We are not worried about it, this is one game. We still got our eyes on the prize. We are not going to let this discourage us.”

Cavaliers making adjustments:
“They definitely did things between game two and today. They changed up a little bit. Mike (Brown) made sure that they were ready. They did what they were supposed to do. We are still going to win this series. We are not going to let one game discourage us.”

On LeBron and the Cavaliers:
“They did their thing. He (LeBron James) did his thing to pick his team up to be there in the fourth quarter and they went on a run.”

Cavaliers Head Coach Mike Brown

On the game:
“That was a good basketball game. A very, very good basketball team in the Detroit Pistons – well coached. Tonight, was a playoff game; a grind-it-out for 48 minutes, slugfest, nobody necessarily getting a big lead. Everybody, every once and a while going on a mini-run, the other team not responding by going on a run but responding back by getting stops…if you want to win in the playoffs you have to get stops. This team (Detroit) has been averaging 107 points per game during the playoffs. Tonight I thought we did a solid job defensively by holding them below 40 percent from the field and 77 points. That’s why we gave ourselves a chance to win. We gave that effort for 48 minutes.”

On the fans:
“Our fans were terrific. Our fans were in it from the beginning of the game to the end of the game. The energy that they brought to the building helped us over the hump at times when we became a little flat. You get support like that from your fans it makes you really want to go out and do your job, extra hard.”

On Anderson Varejao’s play:
“Anderson was huge for us. I’m shocked he only had two rebounds. It looked like he was rebounding everything when he was on the floor. He scored because they doubled LeBron…He was great. He brought energy to the table. He did a heckuva job defending Rasheed (Wallace). He’s a tough cover.”

On LeBron James:
“I can go on and on with the different contributions individually (from other players) but again it all comes back to our guy, LeBron James. What an effort. To have four points and seven assists at halftime and then low and behold he gets a triple-double in the second round of an NBA Playoff game against the best team possibly in the league. I say it all the time – he’s special.”

On the turnaround and the importance of the win:
“Anytime you can win it builds confidence especially against a good team like that. It’s happened to us all year. We’ve been knocked on our behinds and we just responded. Even going into the game I had some of my family members saying “oh, Detroit is a good team” and they are talking to me like the series is over. I keep telling them it’s one day, one game at a time. If we take it one day, one game at a time and focus on winning the next game who knows what’s going to happen. That team in our locker room, that’s what they have been doing. I can’t tell you what’s going to happen a week from now, three days from now, four days from now but the one thing I do know is we have to get focused and try to win game four. That’s our next day. That’s our next challenge.”

On the importance of winning this game for the future:
“Every game we play is helping us. It’s helping us for now and for down the road. It’s exciting.”

Cavaliers Forward LeBron James

On turning the game around after being down:
“We were being really passive in the third quarter. We weren’t getting defensive stops. We were letting them do what they wanted to do. We finally decided that we were going to get some stops and execute on offense. Z sparked us with two big buckets and we got stops on the other end.”

On taking over in the fourth quarter:
“It’s never my plan to take over. I don’t plan what I’m going to do before the game, I just react to the game. If I get doubled, then I will give the ball up. That’s been my motto since I’ve been playing basketball. The Pistons are a great defensive team, so when I see a double team I have to give the ball up. I saw some creases in the fourth quarter and I was able to attack and give us an opportunity to win the ball game.”

On dictating the game late:
“It gives us a lot of confidence. Guys came ready to play tonight. We know that the Pistons are a great team, but we have to execute just like they did at home. We just have to protect home. We don’t want to feel too good about ourselves over this win. We just have to protect home.”

Cavaliers Forward Donyell Marshall

On the confidence that this win give the team:
“I think that we’ve had confidence throughout this whole series. I think one thing that helped us out tonight was the first quarter. If you look at the previous games, they went on a run at the end of the 1st quarter. I think that we did a good job of keeping our focus at the end of the 1st quarter tonight, and that really helped us stay focused the rest of the game.”

On LeBron’s game:
“Honestly I think this is the best game that he’s played. He didn’t press the issue. He kept telling us that he wasn’t going to press himself and press the issue by forcing shots. He found people, he rebounded, and he scored when he needed to score. To me this was the smartest game that he played all series.”

On establishing the inside game:
“I think it’s been important the whole series. We’ve outscored them in the paint every game in the series so far. Tonight I think it really helped us fuel the outside game. We didn’t necessarily hit the three well, but we kept pounding it inside, going to the basket, and kept being aggressive, which are things that we learned at the end of game two. We wanted to continue it tonight.”