From my humble little vantage point, it appears that a little bit of home cooking did a certain LeBron James quite a lot of good. The Cavs' superstar shot a return salvo at his critics with his 32 point, 9 rebound, and 9 assist performance in Cleveland's 88-82 defeat of the Detroit Pistons. The victory trims Detroit's series lead to just two games to Cleveland's one, and with good reason many Detroit fans are beginning to grow concerned that the Pistons have once again taken their foot off the proverbial gas pedal.

Let's be honest though. LeBron James, while impressive, was far from the only thorn sticking into the Pistons' collective side throughout Game Three. The Cavaliers' shooters made their first legitimate appearances as an entire supporting cast, allowing James the additional freedom that lets great players work their craft. Sasha Pavlovic's great shot selection netted him 13 points, Ilgauskas and Gooden chipped in with 16 and 12 respectively, and Daniel Gibson hit some key long distance jumpers that kept the pistons from focusing exclusively on James.

Let's talk about King James though. His statistics, excellent as they are, show little of how he took Cleveland on his back and would not permit them to let this lead get away from them. James has been criticized a good deal lately for his lack of late game heroics, culminating in the blistering he got after this series' Game One. And perhaps rightfully so. But James, intentionally or not, answered those calls tonight, never failing to take the fate of the Cavs on his shoulders down the stretch. His 3-pointer with 2:34 was the juncture at which I started thinking Cleveland might claw their way home. Then, for good measure, he hit another pretty jumper with seconds left to close the lid on Detroit's chances of a sweep. I needn’t waste words over the dunk he put in Rasheed Wallace's back yard with about 7 minutes left; the ESPN highlight reel or Youtube is all that can do that justice.

The reason for James being able to take over the game is, as I mentioned before, due in large part to Detroit's failure to shut down the remainder of Cleveland's offensive weapons. Or at least what Cleveland usually calls offensive weapons. To their credit, all but Larry Hughes gave James all the help he could want tonight, and to Larry Hughes' credit, a sprained foot is a tough thing to play with. It ultimately came down to the Pistons not being able to collapse swarms of defenders on James for fear of leaving another of the hot shooters with a clear look at the basket. When Detroit would try to trap James with their 1-2-2 zone, other Cavaliers would set up shop in the vulnerable center of the defensive formation and, in tonight’s case, hit well-timed jumpers to keep Detroit looking over their shoulder.

It would be cruel and unusual punishment for me to not at least give those deserving on the Pistons their due. I'm looking at you Chris Webber, who gave us shades of the good ol' days in Sacramento. 5-of-8 from the floor, 5-of-6 at the charity stripe and some fantastic hustle on the offensive glass. Had Detroit won this, Webber would be getting some praise all around for being one of the great adjunct players that steps up when all the chips are on the table. As it happens, he'll just get some love from me. Sorry, C-Web, I know it's a petty consolation.