James stars as Cavaliers tie up Pistons, Spurs on the brink

NEW YORK (Reuters) – The Cleveland Cavaliers beat the
Detroit Pistons at their own game on Monday, using a smothering
defense to win Game Four 74-72 and level their Eastern
Conference best-of-seven series at 2-2.

LeBron James had 22 points, nine assists and eight rebounds

and made two of four free throws as time ticked down. Game
Five is on Wednesday in Auburn Hills.

In Dallas, Jason Terry scored 32 points as the Mavericks
beat the San Antonio Spurs 123-118 in overtime, putting the
defending NBA champions on the verge of elimination.

Dallas leads the Western Conference series 3-1, with Game
Five in that series back in San Antonio on Wednesday.

Detroit carried a 59-53 lead into the fourth quarter, but
the Cavaliers played some of their best defense of the series
and outscored the Pistons 21-13 in the final quarter to steal
the win.

The Pistons led by as many as seven early in the fourth
quarter, but a 12-0 Cleveland run paved the way for the win,
with James getting two chances for two free throws with 1:02
left and again with just 1.3 seconds left on the clock.

“The Pistons are feeling the pressure,” James told
reporters after the game.

After two relatively easy wins in the opening two games of
the series, the Pistons find themselves in a battle against the
underdog Cavs.

BROKEN PROMISE

Rasheed Wallace, who had guaranteed a win for his Pistons,
sprained his right ankle and watched the last few minutes from
the bench, but was confident despite the loss.

“There’s no way in hell they beat us in a series,” Wallace
said.

“They played well. I give them credit. We lost.”

Eric Snow had 12 points for the Cavaliers — 10 of them in
the second half — and Anderson Varejao added 10 more.

Richard Hamilton scored 30 points to lead the Pistons, but
Detroit shot a woeful 33 percent from the field while the
Cavaliers shot 43 percent.

Tayshaun Prince added 16 points for Detroit and Chauncey
Billups was held to just 11. Ben Wallace hauled down 10
rebounds but scored just one point.

The Cavaliers fly to St. Louis on Tuesday to attend the
funeral of Larry Hughes’s 20-year-old brother Justin before
going on to Detroit. Hughes has missed the last two games to be
with his family.

In Dallas, the Mavericks finally prevailed in a game that
was tied 20 times and featured eight lead changes during
regulation.

Dirk Nowitzki had 28 points and nine rebounds for the
Mavericks, while Jerry Stackhouse added 26.

Tony Parker led the Spurs with a playoff career-high 33
points, but the Spurs still lost despite shooting 53 percent.

Tim Duncan had 31 points, 13 rebounds and six assists for
the Spurs, while Manu Ginobili scored 26 points before fouling
out.

(Writing by Roger Lajoie in Toronto)