By Raedan Goldblum ’18
The year was 2009. The Cavaliers led by LeBron James had just swept the Detroit Pistons in the opening round of the playoffs. That was the last time the Pistons were in the playoffs. Two years before the 2009 season, the Cavs beat the Pistons in the Eastern Conference to advance to the 2007 NBA Finals against the San Antonio Spurs. Due to the Cavaliers’ four-year absence and the Pistons’ six-year absence from the NBA playoffs, the rivalry between these two teams died out and became insignificant. However, Cleveland and Detroit fans are finally getting a glimpse of the past. This year’s first round matchup is almost identical to the one that took place in 2009.
Like the 2009 series, the Cavs, led by LeBron James, hold the top seed in the East and they face off against the 8th seed pistons. Just as the Cavs swept the Pistons last time around, this year’s Cavalier team holds a commanding 3-0 lead and looks to once again sweep the Pistons. While this playoff series has not been exactly even, there have been heated moments between players and even coaches. In Game one, Pistons’ coach Steve Van Gundy was extremely upset after he believed the refs failed to call a handful of fouls on the dominant LeBron James. Van Gundy said “LeBron’s LeBron. They’re not going to call offensive fouls on him; he gets to do what he wants. They got to understand that.” Van Gundy was later fined $25,000 for his comments. Furthermore, late in the fourth quarter of game 1, the Cavs held a narrow lead. Reggie Jackson, the starting point guard for Detroit, got angry after a no call and earned himself a technical foul, which helped turn the game in the Cavalier’s favor. After game two, Detroit rookie Stanley Johnson believed he was in LeBron’s head and complained that LeBron only talks trash when the Cavs have a significant lead. In game three, Pistons’ center Andre Drummond got away with elbowing LeBron in the neck, causing James to ignore Drummond after the game. Marcus Morris was also seen getting in JR Smith’s face and Smith was seen repeatedly saying “Don’t do that. Don’t do that”.
Game four takes place Sunday night as the Cavs look to finish off a concise first round sweep. While the Pistons still have much to improve upon before becoming more of a threat to this talented Cavs roster, there is no doubt the rebirth of a rivalry is forming between these two teams.