The Cavs win Game 3 — no reason to believe it won't be a sweep

I think I'll let Mo Williams sum up the Cavs win in Game 3: "I was 1-for-11 and Delonte (West) was 0-for-7 and we had eight turnovers between us And we win the game by 11 on the road. What more do you want me to say?"

Not much to add to that. If either or both plays a normal game Sunday, Game 4 won't be close.

The Cavs won Friday despite their worst offensive game in a long time. Their two guards were not very good. Their offense, to quote LeBron James, was "terrible" in the third quarter. And their coach spent much of the night being angry and/or exhorting his team from the sidelines.

Yet they won by 11.

They won because their defense again was excellent, and they won because LeBron James again was beyond excellent. His fourth quarter was as sterling an example of bring-your-team-up basketball as we've seen since James' last sterling example of bring-your-team-up basketball, which probably was the last time the Cavs played.

The Cavs won by 11, on the road, in a game when they didn't play well.

Charles Barkley was right.

This series is over.

Random thoughts …

—A win Sunday and the Cavs will have given themselves a nice long rest before the East semifinals. Miami and Atlanta could go six or seven games.

—I wonder what it feels like for James to almost single-handedly take down a franchise. Detroit's run in the East will be over when it loses this series, and what the Pistons look like next season is anyone's guess.

—Said Detroit coach Michael Curry of James: "Big-time players make plays, and that's what he did."

—My view in Detroit is from behind the basket. Three rows of fans sit in front of us, with an aisle separating us and the fans. When James took off in the fourth quarter, the fans stood and all I could see was Mo Williams on the right. Next thing I knew he lobbed the ball and appearing out of nowhere, above the standing fans, came James' hands to catch the lob and flush the dunk. It was kind of an interesting view, when you think about it.

—When the game started, a fan behind me said to his buddy: "Look how empty this place is … and I'd say half are Cleveland fans." Not sure if it was half, but an MVP chant did break out for James. Wonder how many Cavs fans will be present on Sunday.

—James was asked if he ever thought he'd hear an MVP chant in Detroit. He said : "No. Did I ever think I would play the Pistons without Chauncey Billups? I didn't think that would happen either." Somewhere, Joe Dumars looked around to wonder what in the heck had just buzzed by his head.

—I'll say this until the cows come home: James does not get near enough credit for his rebounding. He pursues missed shots, and when he goes after the ball nobody, but nobody, is going to take it from him. In the first quarter, Ben Wallace — a pretty strong guy — went up for a missed shot and could not control the rebound. Had that been James, he'd have swept the board clean.

—At one point during a timeout the Pistons trotted out a group of dancers called "The Spare Tires." They were a bunch of obsese men, who made a joke of their obesity by rolling their bellies and removing their shirts. The crowd howled. This seemed a bit disturbing, for some reason.

—Nice play by Z in the second quarter leading the break. He clearly didn't want the ball, but dribbled up the court and found LeBron for a layup. The bench loved it.

—Are times tough in Detroit or has this fan base lost interest? An ad during the game said tickets are available for Sunday's Game 4, some as low as $12.

—How the Cavs were tied after three quarters must be one of the great mysteries. They had 13 turnovers, were shooting terrible, were 1-for-15 from three-point range and scored nine points in the quarter. At that point, James was 5-for-13, and Williams, West and Daniel Gibons had combined to go 2-for-16.

—The Cavs scored 10 points the firs t 2:49 of the fourth quarter. That topped their entire third-quarter scoring.

—Free-throw disparity continues to favor Cleveland. The Cavs shot 30 free throws, Detroit 12.

—Where would the Cavs be without Joe Smith?

—Detroit thought it played pretty well against James, and he missed a triple-double by one assist.

Stating it clearly:

Curry: "It was tied going into the fourth and they just made a few more plays and we missed a couple of shots and then had a couple of turnovers. I thought we had played well enough to have a lead and not be tied." 

Brown: "It was a playoff game that was an ugly game. It was a soft game. I don't think either team though they played its best basketball. But somehow, some way, especially in the fourth quarter defensively, and it started with getting stops. Lebron — I thought in the fourth quarter his aggressiveness was terrific." 

Hamilton: "This is killing me. I can't even lie. It's killing me – just the simple fact that how great we were, being down 0-3, being the 8th seed and watching them celebrate shot after shot." 

Joe Smith: "To be on a team that's close to doing something special with what we have here, it's going to pay off. We have to continue to be hungry as a group and I've been around a while so I understand what it takes to win at this level right now."

Tagged as: Cleveland Cavaliers, Detroit Pistons, Joe Smith, LeBron James, Michael Curry, Mike Brown, Mo Williams