Larry Ness Free Nba Pick April 26 2009
Larry Ness 25* Play
The Pistons Detroit have advanced to at the Eastern Conference finals the last six NBA seasons, the longest such streak in the NBA since the Lakers made eight consecutive Western Conference finals from 1981-82 through 1988-89. However, this year’s version of the Pistons entered the 2009 postseason as the lone team among 16 the playoff participants with a losing record (39-43).
Detroit barely claimed the East’s No. 8 seed, which meant an opening round series with the 66-16 Cavs, owners of the NBA’s best record in 2008-09. Three games later, the Pistons are on the verge of being swept out of the playoffs. Detroit scored 84 and 82 points in the two games in Cleveland, shooting 46.2 and 39.5 percent, respectively. Then in an ‘ugly’ Game 3, the team’s shooting percentage fell to 38.0 percent, as the Pistons lost 79-68. Am I writing Detroit’s ‘obituary?’ The Cavs have won and covered the first three games of this series but have seen their offensive production drop as the series has progressed. Cleveland shot 52.9 percent in Game 1 (scored 102 points), then 42.4 percent in Game 2 (94 points) and 41.2 percent in Game 3 (79 points). LeBron spent a good portion of Game 3 complaining to the officials about Detroit’s rough play. The Piston outscored the Cvs 16-9 in the third quarter but LeBron quit complaining and scored 11 of his 25 points in the fourth quarter, helping spark the Cavs on an 18-2 run. Most everyone thinks the Pistons are ‘dead’ and that may be true. However, there is no more pressure on them, as they are NOT coming back from down 0-3. Don’t expect any of their “tough-guy” tactics in this game and I expect a fairly high scoring game. Expect vets like Hamilton, Prince and Wallace (as well as McDyess), to play efficiently. As for the Cavs, they were the league’s second-best three-pointing shooting team during the regular season (39.3 percent) but they’ve been abysmal from beyond the arc in all three games, going 15-of-55 (27.3 percent). That should change here. The Cavs will want to close this series out in four games and let’s not forget that they were 27-14 on the road during the regular season (only the 29-12 Lakers were better) and averaged 100.3 during teh 820-game regular season. Watch for the Cavs to surpass the 100-point markin thsi one and for this game to soar “two TDs or more” over the total. 1st Round Total of the Year.
25* Cle/Det Over.
