Seven years ago today, the Wine and Gold completed the changing of the guard in convincing fashion on a late April afternoon in Auburn Hills, and with the arena seemingly half-packed with Cavaliers fans, Cleveland crushed the Pistons – 99-78 – completing a four-game sweep of their postseason nemesis.
As he had been throughout the series, LeBron James was dominant again on Sunday afternoon – finishing with 36 points, 13 boards, eight assists, two steals and a blocked shot. (He also crushed a Rodney Stuckey offering late in the fourth quarter that was called for goaltending – although that didn’t matter much to the countless Cavalier fans at The Palace.)
“I think our fans came from all parts of Ohio to Michigan to give us their support,” beamed LeBron. “It was great. I respect our fans for that. Even though tonight was a road game they made it feel as if we had a home crowd here. They were amazing.”
James didn’t take his customary rest to start the fourth, instead went full-throttle to put the Pistons away. He tallied 11 points and four boards in the final period – being serenaded to chants of “MVP!” every time he scored or stepped to the stripe, where he was 16-for-17.
In the four-game sweep, James averaged 32.0 points, 11.3 rebounds and 7.5 assists to join Oscar Robertson and Larry Bird as just the third player in NBA history to average at least 30 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists in a single playoff series.
Cleveland’s starting backcourt of Mo Williams and Delonte West had combined for only four points in Cleveland’s Game 3 win – missing their first 12 shots from the floor. But it was a different story in the elimination tilt, with the duo netting 36 points between them – shooting a combined 14-for-24 from the floor, including 5-of-8 from long distance.
The Cavs held the Pistons’ big three – Rasheed Wallace, Tayshaun Prince and Richard Hamilton – to a combined 3-for-24 from the field as the Wine and Gold became just the third team in NBA history – along with the 1980 Celtics and 2004 Pacers to sweep a team by winning each game by double-digits.