Hot-shooting Pistons rout Cavs

AUBURN HILLS, Mich. – When LeBron James had the ball, he saw Detroit Pistons defenders to his left, to his right, and straight ahead.

The Pistons also had James seeing triple at the other end of the court.

Detroit made 10 3-pointers in the first half – one shy of an NBA playoff record – to open up a 21-point lead at halftime before cruising to a 113-86 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Sunday in Game 1 of their second-round series.

The Pistons finished with a franchise playoff-record 15 3-pointers, on 22 attempts, and missed only one of their 11 attempts beyond the arc before halftime.

“They’re going to sweep the rest of the playoffs if they shoot like that and win the NBA championship,” James said. “We shot 50 percent and had only six turnovers in the first half and were down 22. It’s hard to explain that.”

James scored all of his 22 points in the first half, but the 21-year-old star had to work for each one. Triple-teamed at times, James was forced to take difficult shots or defer to teammates.

“The team has to be in a zone situation behind me,” said Tayshaun Prince, who led Detroit’s “LeBron Rules” defense.

James didn’t play in the fourth quarter after he was held scoreless in the third while the Pistons built a 30-point lead.

Prince made James work on defense, too, scoring 24 points and tying his playoff record.

The two-time defending Eastern Conference champions turned the game into a rout with a franchise playoff-record 43 points in the second quarter against a team in the second round for the first time since 1993.

Richard Hamilton scored 20, Chauncey Billups had 14 points and 10 assists and Rasheed Wallace added 10 points and seven rebounds. Detroit went up 32 in the third quarter and emptied its bench midway through the fourth with a 37-point lead.

“Thank goodness the outcome of the series doesn’t have anything to do with point differential,” Cavs coach Mike Brown said.