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Pistons are 12-2 on the road.
Detroit (24-3) at Cleveland (17-10)
Preview - Box Score - Recap
Game Info: 1:30 pm EST Sat Dec 31, 2005
TV: NBATV Add to Calendar
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The Detroit Pistons are on pace to win an unprecedented 73 games this season, potentially claiming the label as the greatest regular-season team in NBA history.
LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers will try to cool off the league's hottest team when they meet at Quicken Loans Arena.
The Pistons improved to an NBA-best 24-3 and extended their winning streak to a season-high nine games with a 106-101 victory Thursday over Miami.
A third of the way through the season, Detroit is neck-in-neck with the history-making 1995-96 Chicago Bulls, who were not only 24-3 after 27 games, but also won 18 straight en route to becoming the first team to win 70 regular-season games. The Bulls finished that season 72-10 before going on to win the NBA le.
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Although the potential for making history is within their grasp, the Pistons aren't focused on that.
"We don't look at what the Chicago Bulls did," Richard Hamilton said. "We just want to get home-court advantage."
Knocking off the Heat in a rematch of last season's Eastern Conference finals put Detroit one step closer to that goal.
Chauncey Billups scored 30 points, and Hamilton added 25 and had a season-high nine assists as the Pistons improved to 13-1 in December.
"Chauncey makes big shots," Detroit coach Flip Saunders said. "We put the ball in his hands at the end of the game because he's one of the top-three free-throw shooters in the league, and he makes good decisions."
The lead changed hands 17 times before Billups sank two free throws and made a layup late in the fourth to secure the win. He went 12-for-12 from the free-throw line and had seven assists.
The Cavaliers had their six-game win streak snapped Tuesday with a 96-91 loss to New Jersey, dropping them seven games behind the Central Division-leading Pistons.
Zydrunas Ilgauskas scored seven of his 21 points during a late 12-0 run that cut the Nets' lead to six.
"We didn't want to get blown out or get embarrassed, being that it's an Eastern Conference team," James said. "We picked it up."
Cleveland couldn't recover completely though, sliding back into a double-digit deficit they couldn't overcome. James, who has scored 30 or more points in 10 of his last 13 games, finished with 31 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists.
"We can't come back against a team like that being down 18 points," Cavaliers coach Mike Brown said. "That's tough to do."
Cleveland has won three of its last four games at home against Detroit.
STANDINGS (through Dec. 29): Pistons - 1st place, Central Division. Cavaliers - 2nd place, 7 GB, Central Division.
PROBABLE STARTERS: Pistons - F Tayshaun Prince, F Rasheed Wallace, C Ben Wallace, G Hamilton, G Billups. Cavaliers - F James, F Drew Gooden, C Ilgauskas, G Larry Hughes, G Eric Snow.
TEAM LEADERS: Pistons - Hamilton, 21.7 ppg; B. Wallace, 12.1 rpg; Billups, 8.6 apg. Cavaliers - James, 30.4 ppg and 5.6 apg; Gooden, 8.3 rpg.
2004-05 SERIES: Tied, 2-2.
LAST MEETING: April 17; Pistons, 90-87. At Detroit, Hamilton had 19 points and six assists, while Billups added 17 points for Detroit. James had 37 points and 11 rebounds in Cleveland's third straight loss.
ROAD/HOME RECORDS: Pistons - 12-2 on the road; Cavaliers - 12-3 at home.
Updated on Friday, Dec 30, 2005 9:27 pm EST
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Team Comparison
Team Record Standings PF PA Road/Home Streak L10
Detroit 24-3 1st Central / 1st East 99.9 91.4 Road 12-2 Won 9 9-1
Cleveland 17-10 2nd Central / 4th East 101.7 97.2 Home 12-3 Lost 1 6-4
Detroit Notes
Dec 30 The Pistons win a season-high ninth straight game on Thursday against Miami. ... G Chauncey Billups connected on 12-of-12 from the free throw line and committed just one turnover in 39 minutes. ... Detroit's starters still contributes most of its points this season. Their reserves scored just nine points. ... The Pistons improved to a league-best 24-3.
Cleveland Notes
Dec 28 The Cavaliers have lost five straight matchups with the Nets and seven in a row at Continental Airlines Arena. ... Starting F Drew Gooden, who had scored 41 points over his previous two games, was held scoreless in 17 minutes Tuesday. The team's leading rebounder at 8.5 boards per game, Gooden grabbed three rebounds and picked up four fouls. ... F LeBron James scored 31 points on 12-of-21 shooting and reached the 30-point plateau for the third time in four games. ... F Donyell Marshall came off the bench to grab 14 rebounds in 32 minutes, helping Cleveland to a 43-39 rebounding edge.
Pistons are 12-2 on the road.
And Cleveland's 12-3 at home. Pistons favored by 2, should be a good game.
Damn, this is one of those games to get NBATV for.
I might have to call Time Warner if I didn't have errands to run today (damn my gasket blowing in my truck which is leaving me Sirius-less this weekend).
"NBATV"
NBA TV is NOT good for watching games. They don't really show many games, but above all, because they put huge, distracting, annoying NBA TV banner across the bottom of the screen, about 20% of the screen, CONTINUOSLY with the NBA TV logo, scores from other games, and stupid noise noises when posting stats. The worst visual presentation of any channel.
NBA TV is only good for watching games that you can't see anywhere else.
He can sign up for it today, and then cancel after the game...I believe you can do that at least.
32-20 Cavs at 11:00 2nd Quarter
11-0 start for Cavs 2nd Quarter
43-28 Cavs, Rasheed picks up a tech from the bench...
Last edited by jochhejaam; 12-31-2005 at 02:24 PM.
Det extremely cold,
34% vs 48%,
28 - 43,
16 - 21 RBs!!.
I'm not celebrating, the Pistons are not done.
Yes, they are. They're playing like crap, even though they are doing a good job on the boards.
I think we have missed about 34 wide open shots.
And Chauncey misses a ing free throw. Naturally. Does that count as a missed wide-open shot?
Wow..... Looks like one of those "nothing falling" type of games. We have missed more wide open jumpers today than the rest of the season combined. Hopefully someone catches fire in the 2nd half or we're screwed.
I guess it should...just a microcosm on how bad they are shooting the ball right now.
after 33 straight, dang!
Hey, it's not my fault he's a 95% shooter. He has higher expectations than say, Ben.
James is driving into the teeth of the Pistons' D and has scored 4 of his 6 made FGs on layups/dunks. Aren't the Wallaces able to help out on him?
Why would they want to? It's not like they care about playing defense today.
Chauncey is such an asshole. Has one of those pull-up 3s ever gone in? Put him on a leash.
Has any shot they have taken today gone in?
Not when they don't get a shot attempt because Chauncey turns the ball over constantly. The Pistons should hire Bobby Knight to throw a chair at him when he does this.
And throw a chair at Luis ing Grillo.
Looks like this is where the Pistons' streak ends
Dude, it's one bad game for Chauncey. He is the best in the league at taking care of the ball. Today is not our day. Look toward our next game. Get a new win streak going.
I think the phrase is "what have you done for me lately?"
Eh. It's the Dallas game all over again, except Cleveland isn't nearly as good as Dallas.
I'm going to rev up my trade Darko for Danny Fortson campaign. The Pistons have no physicality anymore. They need someone to smack down the James, Wades, Ginobilis of the world when they drive the lane.
Last edited by ahb; 12-31-2005 at 03:36 PM.
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