LeBron James of Cleveland drives by Detroit's Tayshaun Prince in the opening game of their playoff series on Saturday afternoon. (David Liam Kyle/Canadian Press)LeBron James banked in a three-pointer at the halftime horn Saturday and finished with 38 points, eight rebounds and seven assists as Cleveland notched a 102-84 win over the Detroit Pistons in Game 1 of their playoff series.
James' 41-foot runner stunned the Pistons and gave the Cavaliers, the league's most dominant team — home or away — during the regular season, a 12-point halftime lead. The Cavaliers held off a second-half push by Detroit while James was on the bench and closed out the visiting Pistons, who will try to even the best-of-seven series in Game 2 on Tuesday night.
When he wasn't scoring, he was setting up his teammates for easy baskets.
"It's contagious," said Mo Williams, who went 5-of-14. "You see that he's the reason why this team is the way that it is. When you have your best player being that unselfish, you find yourself being the same way."
Boston's Rajon Rondo and Chicago's Derrick Rose keep their eye on the ball Saturday. (Elise Amendola/Associated Press) To do that, Detroit will have to devise something to slow James, who had his way for 41 minutes.
"It's tough when he is going like that," Pistons forward Antonio McDyess said. "No matter what you do. Trap, he's going to make that play. Contest shots, he's making shots. He's going to the bucket and being fouled. It's just tough."
Joe Smith scored 13 points and Zydrunas Ilgauskas had 12 and 10 rebounds for Cleveland.
Rodney Stuckey scored 20 and Richard Hamilton 15 for the Pistons, who came in as a No. 8 seed.
Bulls shock Celtics
Derrick Rose scored 36 points in his first career playoff game and helped the Chicago Bulls do something even Michael Jordan could not do: beat the Boston Celtics in the post-season.
Rose had 11 assists to go with his career high in points, and Tyrus Thomas made a jumper from the corner with 51 seconds left in overtime, to lead the Bulls to a 105-103 victory over the defending NBA champions in Game 1 of their best-of-seven first-round series.
"He's poised beyond his years," Bulls teammate Ben Gordon said of Rose. "He already carries himself like a veteran out there. He had a phenomenal game tonight, to say the least."
Rajon Rondo scored 28 points with nine rebounds and seven assists for Boston, which will be without Kevin Garnett for several games and possibly the entire postseason.
Game 2 is Monday, the anniversary of the 1986 playoff game when Jordan scored 63 points against Boston — in a Bulls' loss. In fact, Chicago had not beaten the Celtics in 10 post-season games since the Chicago Stags beat the Celtics in the 1948 NBA quarter-finals.
"I hope this is a wakeup call," said Paul Pierce, who scored 23 points. "I hope we realize that the Bulls, they're not just a team that's happy to be in the playoffs.
"So hopefully the guys will wake up and realize this is reality. We've better come to play."
