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The Cleveland Cavaliers acquired Shaquille O'Neal with the playoffs in mind, that's why the big man is set to miss a sixth straight game with an injured shoulder. Hardly looking like a postseason contender of late, the Detroit Pistons don't need any more obstacles to overcome. The Cavaliers last left The Palace of Auburn Hills with a first-round sweep in April, and they won't get O'Neal back Wednesday night as they seek an eighth straight victory over the reeling Pistons.Cleveland's big offseason acquisition averaged 11.3 points in his first nine games with his fifth NBA team before straining his shoulder. Not wanting to risk the 37-year-old center's health too early, the Cavaliers (10-4) refused to give O'Neal a cortisone injection to treat the injury, instead opting to let him rest. O'Neal was back at practice Monday and hoped to play against the Pistons (5-9), losers of five in a row. The Cavaliers have won seven of eight, going 4-1 without O'Neal. LeBron James has been the catalyst as usual, averaging 34.3 points and 9.3 assists in his last four games while shooting 58.3 percent.
Though James had a game-high 32 points and nine assists Saturday as Cleveland rallied past Philadelphia 97-91, much of the postgame talk focused on the defense, which allowed 10 fourth-quarter points as Cleveland overcame a six-point deficit. "That's where we make our mark at," James said. "We just lock down. ... When we're playing defense like that at a high level, it's hard to beat us." James averaged 32.0 points, 11.3 rebounds and 7.5 assists as Cleveland held Detroit to 78.0 points per game in a four-game sweep to open last season's playoffs. Including that series, the Cavs have won seven straight over the Pistons by an average of 14.1 points. Cleveland had assistant John Kuester guiding its offense during those victories, but now Kuester, largely credited with the Cavs' improved ball movement and spacing during their 66-win season in 2008-09, is the head coach in Detroit. Kuester has had some bad breaks running the Pistons. Richard Hamilton (ankle) and Tayshaun Prince (back) have played a combined four games, leaving free agent acquisitions Ben Gordon and Charlie Villanueva to lead their new team.
They haven't had much success lately. Gordon went 1 of 16 from the field and scored a season-low five points in a loss to Dallas on Nov. 15, then the Pistons were swept during a four-game western road trip that concluded with a 117-91 loss at Phoenix on Sunday. "Until this game, we lost three games that we can learn a lot from," said reserve guard Will Bynum, who's averaged 17.7 points on 57.4 percent shooting in his last six games. "... We just have to get things back going and get back home and have the fans behind us. We should be fine." The Pistons' biggest problem has been finding offense inside with former Cavalier Ben Wallace and Jonas Jerebko starting up front. Detroit is among the league's bottom five teams in points in the paint (36.1 per game), and Cleveland (34.1) allows the fewest. The Pistons last lost six in a row during an eight-game skid from Feb. 8-25.
