Pistons put up great fight, but Cavs take game 1

There is a distinct difference between a team that knows how to win in the playoffs and one finding its way. The Detroit Pistons might work their way to the positive side of that equation in time, but in Game 1 of a first-round Eastern Conference playoff series, it was the heavily favored Cleveland Cavaliers whose superstars closed the show in the fourth quarter for a 106-101 victory Sunday.

Game 2 of the best-of-seven series is Wednesday night here but the opener had to leave the Pistons with a gnawing feeling that this was their chance to steal home-court advantage — whether they could have kept it is a separate debate — and they let it get away.

The Pistons led 83-76 when the Cavs called timeout 56 seconds into the fourth quarter to get LeBron James back into the game.

Within two minutes, the top-seeded Cavs had drawn even and their defense turned the Pistons’ previously potent offense into an immovable mess. READ MORE OF DAVID MAYO’S STORY ON MLIVE