JT the Brick

It is time to put up or shut up in the Motor City.

Either Detroit bounces back after losing three games in a row to the Cleveland Cavaliers in the playoffs or the Pistons go home as the new poster boys for the term choking.

It is that simple because Detroit is clearly a better basketball team than Cleveland but the Pistons have lost their focus and ability to attack the basket against the upstart Cavaliers. The city of Detroit knows how to win championships but also has a long history of underachieving when it counts and this potential collapse could bring another black eye to this blue collar city.

Head coach Flip Saunders watched his team cruise through the regular season with a 64-18 record and the best record in the NBA. Wednesday night he looked on in amazement as his team looked lost and uninspired while losing to Cleveland 86-84 and now faces elimination.

Even the proud Pistons fans seemed tired after battling rush hour traffic to get to the game on time only to see their beloved team trail for most of the evening and make critical mistakes when the game was on the line. The Pistons must now wake up from their current nightmare and win the next two games if they want to be a part of the matchup they anticipated in the preseason against Shaquille O'Neal and the Miami Heat. The Heat kept up their end of the bargain as the Pistons now have their backs up against the wall.

MESSAGE BOARDS

Cleveland has played like the more experienced playoff team over the past three games and has the opportunity to put the Pistons away on its home court Friday night. Talk about a best-case scenario for the entire Cavaliers organization, as they only need to win only one more home game to advance to the Eastern Conference finals and secure another two weeks of prime-time media coverage for their deserving fans.

No season ticket holder in Cleveland ever dreamed of attending home games in late May when they paid their bill and began the season back in November with the hopes of just making the playoffs. Now I have NBA fans lining up to get on my radio show because they want to see LeBron play for another few weeks and gain valuable playoff experience that will only enhance his career for years to come. These same fans also want Detroit to lose because they are sick and tired of listening to Rasheed Wallace as he continues to guarantee wins for his team.

It’s amazing to see how many fans from eliminated teams or fans from teams that didn't make the playoffs want to see the next great rivalry begin between LeBron James and Dwayne Wade. I also can understand how young NBA fans would rather see LeBron go up against Shaq in the Eastern Conference finals considering we don't know how long O'Neal will continue to play.

Nike is even capitalizing on its investment in LeBron and will sell many sneakers if “King” James gets past the Pistons. And let’s not forget the television networks who would love to broadcast the next great NBA superstar as he advances deep into the playoffs. James is only 21 years old and very few NBA insiders expected him to have a chance at playing in the conference finals when the season began.

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Detroit must now find a way to win one game —Game Six. If they win Friday, I don't think Cleveland can go into the Palace at Auburn Hills and win a decisive seventh game. So essentially Game Six is the elimination game for both Cleveland and Detroit and that is not comforting for most Detroit fans because Saunders is 23-34 in his playoff career.

James has been the perfect teammate throughout the playoffs but I expect him to try to take his game to a higher level in Game Six and look to score over 40 points. He should continue to attack the basket and get his home crowd energized with acrobatic dunks and make sure he stays out of early foul trouble.