James delivers win for Cavaliers

LeBron James didn’t wait for the last play. He did all he needed to do before the clock got anywhere near zero.

James had 32 points, nine rebounds and nine assists in the most important game of his young NBA career, helping Cleveland to an 88-82 victory over the Detroit Pistons on Sunday night to pull the Cavaliers within 2-1 in the Eastern Conference finals.

“We ain’t done yet,” James said. “We’ve still got to hold down home court and try to make it a three-game series.”

James, rising to the occasion with a hometown crowd hanging on his every move, scored 12 points in the fourth quarter and rookie Daniel Gibson came up with several key plays down the stretch to help his more celebrated teammate.

In Game 1 at Detroit, James was criticized for not taking the Cavaliers’ final shot. In Game 2, James was swarmed by defenders and couldn’t get off a clean attempt in the lane in the waning moments of the Pistons’ second straight 79-76 win.

James left nothing to chance this time, making a three-point basket with 2 minutes 34 seconds left and a 16-foot jumper in the last 23 seconds to give Cleveland its first win in the conference finals since May 25, 1992, against Chicago.

“You learn from mistakes, you learn from losses, but this game doesn’t put something on me where it’s, ‘Hey, I’ve finally done it,’ ” James said. “This was a big game. We won it and we have to move on.”

Zydrunas Ilgauskas scored 16 points and Sasha Pavlovic had 13 for the Cavaliers, who can tie the series with a win in Game 4 on Tuesday night.

Rasheed Wallace had 16 points and Chris Webber 15 for the Pistons, who were five for 14 in the fourth quarter and scored 19 points -- only seven more than James.

“We gave him too many options,” Detroit’s Tayshaun Prince said. “He picked us apart driving to the basket.”