NBA

Cavs, LeBron silence Wallace

By TIMES WIRES
Published May 16, 2006

[Getty Images]

LeBron James, who made two free throws--the last with 1.3 seconds to lift the Cavs--goes up against Pistons forward Rasheed Wallace.

CLEVELAND - Rasheed Wallace's right ankle was heavily taped. Maybe his mouth should have been, too.

Wallace's perfect record of predicting Detroit playoff victories was snapped Monday when LeBron James scored 22 and the Cavaliers dug deep on defense to beat the Pistons 74-72, evening their second-round series at 2.

"Everybody was counting us out," James said. "Even people in our own backyard were counting us out. That's extra motivation for us. We don't listen to nobody."

Following Detroit's loss in Game 3, Wallace had pledged the Pistons would not only win Game 4, but that the Cavs would be playing in front of their fans for the last time this season.

The Cavs, employing Piston-style defense and getting big shots from everyone, are back in a series that began lopsided and is as tight as it can be. For the second straight game, Cleveland won a low-scoring defensive struggle - the kind of game that has typified Detroit for years.

With Wallace watching from the bench after rolling his ankle, James made two free throws - the last with 1.3 seconds left - and the Pistons threw away their final inbounds pass to James, who grabbed the ball and punted it.

James added nine assists and eight rebounds, narrowly missing his third triple-double of the postseason. Eric Snow had 12 points - 10 after halftime - and Anderson Varejao had 10 points and drew a key foul late in the game.

Richard Hamilton scored 30 and Tayshaun Prince had 16 for the Pistons, who suddenly find themselves in a tense series after dominating at home in Games 1 and 2.

MAVS 123, SPURS 118 (OT): The way Dallas is going, every team is going to start using two point guards.

New starter Devin Harris and backcourt incumbent Jason Terry hit big shots in a fourth-quarter rally, then showed off their speed and shooting in overtime as the host Mavericks took a 3-1 series lead.

Dallas has won three in a row since Harris joined the starting lineup. Now the Mavs are one win from making the conference finals for the second time in four years and the third time in franchise history.

Dallas forced overtime when Dirk Nowitzki hit two free throws with eight seconds left, tying it at 111.

NEW PLAN FOR PLAYOFF SEEDS: NBA commissioner David Stern discussed a new seeding system Monday aimed at fixing the flaw Dallas exposed this season. The Mavs won 60 games, but were seeded fourth behind the three division winners despite a better record. That's why Dallas and San Antonio, both in the Southwest Division, are meeting in the second round despite having the best records in the Western Conference.

Under the new proposal, the top four seeds would be slotted by record among the three division winners and the team with the next-best record. Had that been in place this season, the Spurs still would have been No. 1, but the Mavs have been No. 2. And they couldn't have met until the conference finals.

[Last modified May 16, 2006, 01:50:15]