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Cavaliers fans pack game in Michigan
By Patrick McManamon
Beacon Journal sports columnist
Published on Monday, Apr 27, 2009
AUBURN HILLS, MICH.: The Palace became a home on Sunday.
It became home for the Cleveland Cavaliers, who finished a most efficient sweep of the once-mighty Detroit Pistons with fan support unrivaled in a road playoff game.
''We had the Q here today,'' said Mo Williams.
They sure did.
Rarely do a traveling team's fans take over an arena. That's what happened at the Palace. There were plenty of Detroit fans, yes, but there was a ridiculous amount of Cavs fans, too.
And the sound of all those Cavs fans cheering and chanting made anyone who has watched a game in the Palace listen in amazement.
The Cavs made many statements in sweeping this first-round NBA playoff series.
They won with defense and with LeBron James averaging 32 points, 11.3 rebounds and 7.5 assists.
And in Game 4, they won with a home crowd that took to the road, a home crowd that had every player shaking his head.
''It was tremendous,'' Williams said of the fan support. ''It was a little bit amazing, to be honest. Coming out to warm up, you hear all those Cavs fans. It was kind of jokingly going around the locker room, 'Hey man, we're at the Q.'
''I've never experienced anything like that in my life.''
When the Cavs took the court for pregame warm-ups, they received a standing ovation, and in the first quarter, the crowd went bonkers when James rejected a Rodney Stuckey layup.
There were MVP chants for James and chants of ''Let's go Cavs'' during timeouts. There
were loud ovations for the Cavs' blocked shots and as many signs for the Cavs as there were for the Pistons.
When the game ended, Detroit's fans had left and about half the house stayed to cheer and roar and chant and do everything a crowd at Quicken Loans Arena would do.
Daniel Gibson cautioned that ''there's nothing like the Q,'' but in a place notoriously hostile to visiting teams, this was as warm and fuzzy as a road game could possibly be.
''That was like a home game for us,'' Ben Wallace said.
''I haven't ever seen that, especially in the playoffs,'' Joe Smith said.
''I respect our fans for that,'' James said. ''They're unbelievable. And even though tonight was a road game, they made us feel like we had a home crowd here.
''They were amazing.''
Traffic on Interstate 75 north had to be constant during the morning.
''A lot of people made the drive,'' General Manager Danny Ferry said. ''We really, really appreciate that. It was phenomenal they made the trip up here. It was a little surreal for sure, but it was also gratifying.
''Very cool.''
Call it coincidence, but the Cavs played with the same edge that produced a 39-2 home record.
A 17-4 run in the second period put the Cavs ahead for good, and Detroit had the same answer it had all series long. Which is to say no answer.
Just as it had no answer for James, who was too big for Stuckey, too strong for Rip Hamilton and too much for the ailing Tayshaun Prince.
Before the game, James stared impassively into the crowd as he took the court.
Just before turning to midcourt, he smiled — as if to say, here it comes.
Late in the third quarter, a Detroit fan said to his friend: ''He [James] has 27 points and I haven't seen anything yet. That's how good he is.''
And how good he was.
Shortly after that statement, James punctuated the game with another thunderous dunk that left the Pistons staring blankly and the Cavs fans celebrating wildly.
Call this home-court-in-Detroit phenomenon partly a matter of circumstance.
Detroit the city has been hit hard by the economic downturn.
The Pistons struggled all season, and once they sent Chauncey Billups to Denver for Allen Iverson, they lost their heart.
The Cavs have been on a high all year, and with Prince and Rasheed Wallace playing hurt, this series was going to end quickly.
But that didn't mean the Cavs fans had to sit home and watch. Word evidently got back to Ohio that tickets had been advertised as low as $12, and the Cavs fans arrived in droves.
It's a testament to the excitement this team has generated.
''We're in this together,'' West said so appropriately. ''The fans, and the players.''
It was suggested to Gibson that it sounded like a Cavs home crowd. ''That's definitely what it sounded like,'' he said. ''So . . . thanks.''
Patrick McManamon can be reached at pmcmanamon@thebeaconjournal.com. Read his blog at http://www.ohiomm.com/blogs/mcmanamon/. Follow Pat on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/patmcmanamon
AUBURN HILLS, MICH.: The Palace became a home on Sunday.
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Comments
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Canton, OH
Posted 09:17 AM, 04/27/2009
We DO travel well. . . .
Posted 10:27 AM, 04/27/2009
I was there. The Detroit fans should feel embarrassed. That had to have been the worst attendance for a playoff game in the history of the league. When you let tickets go for sale for $25 then you should expect an away team, especially one that is only 3 hours away to overtake your arena. The Cavs fans should feel proud the way we took over their arena and made it our own. I heard people chanting "This is our house!" That was great! GO CAVS!!!
