LBJ Injured As Cavs Fall To Pistons 109-74

Cleveland Cavaliers guard LeBron James sprained the index finger on his left hand, and left the game for good in the second quarter as Cleveland lost to the?Detroit Pistons 109-74 Wednesday. A collective sigh must have been emitted from Northeast Ohio after it was revealed that X-Rays showed no breaks. To a certain extent those same sighs of relief probably came from the NBA League office as well. James was hurt at the 4:41 mark of the second quarter as he was fouled by Detroit big man?Nazr Mohammed. James shot both free throws despite the obvious pain to stay in the game. He will according to the teams Media Relations staff be reevaluated Thursday.?The injury took the spotlight away from the contest.

This was a game that many were looking forward to, and it would have been interesting to see how it would have turned out. The two top teams in the Central Division with Detroit ahead by mere percentage points after Cleveland’s win against Boston Tuesday. The Cavaliers were on a four game winning streak, Detroit had lost their last contest. And it was the rematch of last season’s NBA Eastern Conference Finals, a coming of age series for Cleveland. But without LBJ, the already injured Larry Hughes, and Donyell Marshall Cleveland could not put up a fight.

Richard Hamilton led the way for the Pistons with 18 points, 6 assists, 2 rebounds, 2 steals, Tayshaun Prince scored 16 points, 4 assists, 1 rebound 1 blocked shot. Antonio McDyess?who scored? 14 points, and 8 rebounds was the only other Detroit player in double figures. However every Pistons player who set foot on the court with the exception of Lindsey Hunter who was scoreless, scored at least 5 points.??

Cleveland was led by James even though he left the game before half time. James had 15 points, in just 19 minutes of playing time watching the second half from the bench in sports coat and turtleneck. Sasha Pavolvic had 13 points, and was the only other Cleveland player in double figures. Drew Gooden had nine points and nine rebounds. Detroit is now 1 game ahead in the Central with a record of 9-5 while The Cavaliers fall to 9-7.