Maybe they should rename the building, "The Palace King James Tore Down."
The Cavaliers took no time in putting their foot to the throat of the Detroit Pistons, closing them out in the third quarter with 16-6 run. The Pistons, a powerhouse over the last seven years, will not reach the conference finals for the first time in seven years. The cause of their downfall? The only man with less fear of the Palace than Ron Artest.
LeBron James had 36 points, 13 rebounds, and eight assists to again create the majority of the punch for the Cavs, who will now have up to a week of off time before facing the winner of the Atlanta-Miami showdown.
With the way the Cavaliers are playing, those teams might want to put off facing the Cavs as long as possible.
It's trophy time in the NBA, and the FanHouse crew has submitted its ballots. Find out which players deserve to take home the hardware and which ones don't, in our NBA Awards series. First up: Sixth Man of the Year.
The Sixth Man award, as you probably have guessed from its name, is given to the player believed to have the biggest impact for his team coming off the bench. Over the past couple of seasons, the discussion is one that's been dominated by two names -- Manu Ginobili and Leandro Barbosa. This year, however, we have a new group of players in the conversation, and, while the voting was close, we were able to come up with a clear cut choice.
NEW YORK -- A beautiful thing happened to the Detroit Pistons on their way to the playoffs. Oh, they haven't quite reached the postseason yet, but there isn't much doubt that is where they're headed, where they belong now that the team has been made whole again.
It took the subtraction of Allen Iverson to mend the Pistons, and while there is a chance his removal came a bit too late, Detroit needs to win just one more game to seal a playoff berth. The Pistons are now tied for the seventh seed in the Eastern Conference with the Chicago Bulls, a lucky spot that means avoiding a first-round clash with LeBron James' Cleveland Cavaliers.
NEW YORK -- A beautiful thing happened to the Detroit Pistons on their way to the playoffs. Oh, they haven't quite reached the postseason yet, but there isn't much doubt that is where they're headed, where they belong now that the team has been made whole again.
It took the subtraction of Allen Iverson to mend the Pistons, and while there is a chance his removal came a bit too late, Detroit needs to win just one more game to seal a playoff berth. The Pistons are now tied for the seventh seed in the Eastern Conference with the Chicago Bulls, a lucky spot that means avoiding a first-round clash with LeBron James' Cleveland Cavaliers.
Every night there are some stupendous, silly, stupid, or downright outlandish individual lines from around the "lig." Doing Lines lets you know which one tops the list.
Kobe Bryant reads the New York Times Magazine, and dangit! Shane Battier ... why do you have to diss Kobe in public? Michael Lewis' February love letter to Daryl Morey and Battier talked about how the Rockets make KB inefficient. With Ron Artest also on board, things look bleak for the Laker superhero ... right?
KB scored 37 points on 14-of-23 shooting (.609 FG%) in Houston last night. Lakers win. Whoops! Maybe such stories are best reserved for the offseason, when Kobe can get distracted by shiny things (like gold medals).
Anyone who's followed the Pistons on a regular basis couldn't possibly have been surprised by Sunday's embarrassing blowout in Cleveland. (You know things are bad when you lose by 21 and a note on the team's official Twitter feed still admits "it wasn't as close as the final score.")
The Cavs have made a lot of teams look silly this year, but the loss was Detroit's sixth in a row and their 15th in 20 games. Forget the Pistons' streak of six consecutive appearances in the Conference Finals -- at their current pace, they're in very real danger of missing the playoffs completely.
Everyone, that is, except Curry himself. "I wasn't worried about if Rip wanted to come off the bench or Allen wanted to come off the bench. We just made a decision on what gives us the chance to be at our best," Curry said while announcing the move earlier this week.
Assuming Detroit's putrid performance of late (they've lost three of their last four, including their last two against teams with losing records) hasn't given him cold feet, he should sign his new contract today and be in uniform and available to play Tuesday in Washington.
While the Pistons are still figuring out how best to utilize their backcourt with Allen Iverson in the mix, Michael Curry indicated before Friday's game that he doesn't think McDyess' return will require any type of transition.
"I think the biggest adjustment is when you have guys that are dominant scorers as far as [having] a lot of plays that are ran for them while the ball is in their hands," Curry said. "I don't think that's the case for Dyess. He'll pick right back up what we're doing defensively and offensively. He's just going to play his role. It doesn't take a lot of time adjusting with a guy like that."
Sure, the Pistons were utterly and completely embarrassed on their home floor by the lowly Timberwolves last night, but there's still reason for fans in Detroit to smile: Antonio McDyess is coming home. His agent made the rounds informing the media last night, text messaging the AP and explaining his client's motivations to ESPN:
"It was a very difficult decision for him. He was weighing good offers financially, along with other variables he thought were important," agent Andy Miller told ESPN.com. "But going into the year he had a team goal set, and to not finish up with it, he didn't want to do that. He wants to finish the year, finish what he started in Detroit, then reevaluate after the season is over."
League rules dictate he can't re-sign with his former team until 30 days after the trade that sent him away, so his return won't be official until Dec. 3. Assuming he maintains his conditioning, there's a chance he could be in uniform two days later when the Pistons host the Sixers on Dec. 5, though a more realistic target is probably Dec. 7 in New York.
All the world's contenders pine for Antonio McDyess. With every passing day, Detroit's position grows stronger. McDyess's agent, Andy Miller, makes Cleveland feel better about its chances today, as it is noted that the Cavaliers can offer more cash than the Pistons or Celtics.
"He would be perfect for this team," Brown said pre-game Tuesday. "He's an underrated defender, he can make a shot and he is the best teammate." [...]
Brown has heard McDyess would like to talk to him about the situation, so there's still time for the Bobcats coach to make his sales pitch.
If the Denver buyout (in which McDyess reportedly gave back more money than any other player in modern league history) is any indication, we aren't dealing with a normal cat here. McDyess values happiness and relationships. He's not a ring chaser. Richard Walker of the Gaston Gazette notes that in Detroit McDyess was known as Brown's "second son." Anyone else smelling an upset?
Maybe they should rename the building, "The Palace King James Tore Down." 
It's trophy time in the NBA, and the FanHouse crew has submitted its ballots. Find out which players deserve to take home the hardware and which ones don't, in our 
NEW YORK -- A beautiful thing happened to the Detroit Pistons on their way to the playoffs. Oh, they haven't quite reached the postseason yet, but there isn't much doubt that is where they're headed, where they belong now that the team has been made whole again.
Every night there are some stupendous, silly, stupid, or downright outlandish individual lines from around the "lig." 
Anyone who's followed the Pistons on a regular basis couldn't possibly have been surprised by Sunday's embarrassing blowout in Cleveland. (You know things are bad when you lose by 21 and 
A report from the Palace of Auburn Hills, where the Pistons faced the Mavericks on January 23rd.
The 
All the world's contenders pine for 
