Pistons Prove They’re Not Scared Of The Moment

The young Detroit Pistons proved they belonged on the stage against the No. 1-seeded Cleveland Cavaliers and, if nothing else, they were not scared of the moment.

Going up against LeBron James in the first round of the playoffs can be a daunting task for any team, but for the young Detroit Pistons, one could understand if they shrunk under the playoff microscope. James’ teams are 11-0 in the first-round series and the Cleveland Cavaliers’ four-game dispatching of the Pistons made it four consecutive first-round sweeps for James’ clubs.

After all, Detroit has nine players 26 or younger on its roster, many of whom experienced playoff intensity for the first time.

But these Pistons, they were never afraid.

Aaron Ferguson detailed the growth and heart Detroit showed in its series.

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These young guys went at The King and led at halftime in Game 1 of the series, shooting unconsciously from 3-point range (15-for-29) and being within three points with less than three minutes left in the game, the lost 106-101.

Besides the blowout in Game 2 107-90, when the Cavaliers knocked down 20 three-pointers, Cleveland was in a dogfight with the scrappy Pistons throughout the series. Late-game shots were needed to for the Cavs to pull away in every other game.

Detroit went at Cleveland. Marcus Morris battled with James and Kevin Love in the post and took his fair share of questionable shots at Cavaliers’ forwards, proving Detroit was going to make them earn this series victory.

After Morris hit LeBron with a cheap shot in Game 2, James complained to the refs with some NSFW language.

Morris’ antics aside, he showed up for Detroit; he averaged a team-high 17.8 points per game against the Cavs.

And if that wasn’t enough, James gave Detroit forward Stanley Johnson a little contact away from the ball, resulting in Johnson–just 19–saying he was in LeBron’s head. Many in the league bow down to King James, but a 19-year-old felt confident enough to believe he had shaken James’ confidence.

Johnson added eight points a game, including nine points in each of the first three games. And more importantly, he remained aggressive and didn’t shy away after making his brash comments.

The experience gained from being relatively competitive against the Cleveland Cavaliers, the reigning Eastern Conference champions that most have all but given a pass to the Finals this season, shows how confident Stan Van Gundy’s young squad was, although the task was too tough.

Detriot was no pushover for Cleveland and they made Clevland play a full game for three of the four games and came a missed 3-pointer by Reggie Jackson (was it a foul?) away from sending the series to Cleveland for another game.

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The next step for the young team is continuing to grow and reaching the next step next season. Getting to playoffs is fine and dandy and running your jaw is cool, but you have to produce during the playoffs or it’s all for not.