James' Shot Won't Fall

May 25, 11:02 AM

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Shooting or passing, LeBron James is having a hard time beating the Detroit Pistons.

James missed a shot with 7.9 seconds left, allowing Detroit to escape again with a 79-76 victory over the visiting Cleveland Cavaliers on Thursday night and a 2-0 lead in the Eastern Conference finals.

On the previous possession, Rasheed Wallace made a fadeaway jumper on the baseline over James to put Detroit ahead.

James, who passed up a shot in the final seconds of the series opener, dribbled into the lane and missed a spinning shot in the lane with Richard Hamilton draped on him.

"I believe there was some contact, but there's been a lot of contact throughout this series," James said. "We're a no-excuse team and we can't look at the last play as why we lost. We just have to get better."

Larry Hughes grabbed the offensive rebound after James missed, couldn't make a 10-footer and Anderson Varejao was just off on a tip. After Wallace grabbed the rebound, Cavs coach Mike Brown was called for a technical foul after arguing that James was fouled on his shot attempt.

"I'm sure we feel lucky and they feel unlucky," Detroit coach Flip Saunders said.

Wallace didn't feel he needed fortune, however, to avoid getting called for a push-off foul against Varejao before making his go- ahead shot.

"All that flopping, they need to make that a technical foul for next year," he said. "That's not defense in the fourth quarter and I'm glad we have veteran officials to see that."

Varejao walked out of the locker room without speaking to reporters.

Game 3 is Sunday night in Cleveland.

Detroit started 2-0 against the Cavs in the second round last year, but the Cavs responded by winning three straight before losing Game 7 on the road.

Wallace scored 10 of his 16 points in the fourth quarter, had 11 rebounds, two blocks and two steals.

"Down the stretch, he wanted the ball in a lot of situations," Saunders said. "He made some big plays in the fourth quarter."

Hamilton and Chauncey Billups had 13 points apiece and Jason Maxiell provided a boost off the bench with a playoff-high 15.

James finished with 19 points on 7-for-19 shooting and had seven assists, six turnovers and six rebounds. He scored a playoff-low 10 points on 5-for-15 shooting in Game 1.

For the second straight game, he didn't have much help offensively.

Sasha Pavlovic and Varejao each scored 14, but key players Drew Gooden, Zydrunas Ilgauskas and Larry Hughes combined for just 11 points. Rookie Daniel Gibson added a playoff-high nine points.

The Cavs led, 50-38, after a dominant second quarter before a lackluster third allowed Detroit to come back.

* Around the league: Chicago Bulls assistant Jim Boylan is the latest coach in the mix for the Indiana Pacers' job. Pacers CEO Donnie Walsh said the team interviewed Boylan on Wednesday. Boylan was the lead assistant for Chicago this season, and he helped the Bulls reach the Eastern Conference semifinals. He also has been an assistant in Atlanta, Phoenix and Vancouver and was a college head coach at New Hampshire during 1989-1992. Walsh dismissed reports that former Miami coach Stan Van Gundy turned down an offer from the Pacers to replace Rick Carlisle. Walsh said the Pacers interviewed Van Gundy twice and the Pacers were impressed, but never made an offer. ... Dikembe Mutombo wants a 17th season in the NBA. The 40- year-old Mutombo was contemplating retirement after the Houston Rockets were ousted by the Utah Jazz in the first round of the playoffs. But dinner with Hakeem Olajuwon changed all that. "To have someone like that, who I admire so much, tell me I have too much to offer to walk away meant a great deal. What Hakeem had to say really motivated me," Mutombo told Houston television station KRIV.

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