Pistons throttle Cavs, close in on home court

AUBURN HILLS, Mich. (AP) -- LeBron James hopped on his right

foot, sparing his sprained left ankle, and the Cleveland Cavaliers

gasped a week before their first playoff appearance since 1998.

The Detroit Pistons were routing the Cavs when their star was

hurt and they went on finish them off with a 96-73 victory

Wednesday night, moving within a game of earning home-court

advantage throughout the playoffs.

"It was just another game for us to work toward our goal,"

point guard Chauncey Billups said.

James landed awkwardly while being guarded by Tayshaun Prince on

a three-point play, and the MVP candidate knew he was injured right

away.

"I just wanted to lie down and see how bad it was," he said.

James was checked out on the court by Cavs athletic trainer Max

Benton during a timeout, then made a free throw to complete his

three-point play. He was taken out a second later, left the court

moments afterward and had X-rays taken.

"It's sprained pretty good, but nothing serious," said James,

who had 22 points on 8-of-18 shooting. "You never really know

until the next day, but I've had them before, and this is nothing

that bad."

The Cavs said his status is day to day.

Cleveland hosts the New York Knicks on Thursday, and the Cavs

might decide to play it safe by resting James because they can't

improve or hurt their position as the fourth-seeded team in the

Eastern Conference playoffs.

"If I don't feel 100 percent tomorrow, I won't go," James

said.

The Pistons will secure home court with one more victory, or a

San Antonio loss. Detroit has the tiebreaker because it beat the

Spurs in both meetings.

Detroit (63-15) tied the franchise record for victories and if

it wins one of the last four games, it will break the record set

during the 1988-89 season, when the Bad Boys went on to win the

first of two straight titles.

"As I said in the locker room, people die to get to 50

(wins)," Pistons coach Flip Saunders said. "To get to 60 is

really something. Every win beyond that shows that you've been able

to play at a pretty high level for a long time."

Detroit is 36-3 at home, one victory away from the team record

with games remaining at The Palace against the Knicks and

Washington.

The Pistons took control against Cleveland with a 14-0 run

midway through the second quarter.

Rasheed Wallace had 16 points and nine rebounds, while Prince

and Richard Hamilton each scored 14 for the Pistons, who have won

eight of nine. Three reserves -- Maurice Evans (13), Tony Delk (12)

and Antonio McDyess (10) -- added to Detroit's balanced attack,

which Billups directed with eight assists.

Meanwhile, only Zydrunas Ilgauskas helped James carry the

scoring load. Ilgauskas, back from an ankle injury, scored 10

points and the Cavs didn't have another scorer with more than

eight.

Early in the fourth quarter, Cavs forward Alan Henderson

dislocated a finger on his right hand on a missed dunk and did not

return.

Cleveland had won 11 of 12, a streak that secured home-court

advantage in the first round and a second-round matchup with the

Pistons if both teams advance.

"They showed us what playoff basketball is all about," Cavs

coach Mike Brown said. "It will be good for us to have gone

through this if we learn from it."

Before the game, Ilgauskas said it was important to get back on

the court because he doesn't want to be rusty when the playoffs

start next week. The lumbering center looked sharp early, then was

lackluster.

Ilgauskas had eight points and three rebounds when he came out

of the game with 3:10 left in the first quarter -- twice as many

points as James had at the time.

James later scored five points to put the Cavs ahead -- for the

first time -- 19-16, then the Pistons responded by scoring the last

11 points of the quarter and went ahead 27-19.

The Pistons then had their decisive run, which helped them lead

56-29 at halftime.

Other than James and Ilgauskas, the Cavs combined to score four

points on 2-of-20 shooting in the first half while the Pistons had

eight players with at least four points.

"Flip outcoached me and their players outplayed us on both ends

of the floor," Brown said. "Even their cheerleaders did a nice

job."

Game notes

Cavs center Anderson Varejao was ejected in the second

quarter after taking down Rasheed Wallace. Varejao hit Wallace's

shoulder on a driving layup, then appeared to push him down. "It

was just another soft foul," Wallace said. "I don't know what he

was trying to do, but it didn't work." ... Brown said Larry Hughes

is "still finding his way," and could not say when, or if, he

would return to the starting lineup ahead of shooting guard Ronald

Murray. Hughes returned earlier this month missing three months

with a broken right middle finger. ... Detroit won the season

series 3-1. ... Faces in the crowd included Robert Traylor, a

former Cavalier and Michigan Wolverine, and some Detroit Tigers and

Chicago White Sox.