Technically, a 4-2 series victory isn’t a sweep, but when you consider how close Cleveland came to winning all 6 of the games played, this comes close. In fact, for the first time in 6 games, the outcome of a game didn’t come down to the last shot! Has there ever been another series like it?

It was tied at half time, and with just 1 point separating the teams going in to the 4th quarter, it looked like we were in for another close game. So what happened?

In a word: AGE.

Father Time handed this game to the Cleveland Cavaliers.

With just one day of rest between games, and travel and practices to consider, the older Pistons gave out in the fourth quarter.

Offensively, the Pistons shot 46% in the first half (18/39), but just 25% in the second half (9/36) — and just 20% in the fourth quarter (3/15).

Defensively, the dead legged Pistons were a step slow recovering from double teaming LeBron, and giving Gibson and co. wide open shots, and increasing confidence with each make.

In terms of raw hustle, the Pistons were out rebounded by 29 rebounds! (70 to 41 including team rebounds).

If you give a poor shooting team the ball often enough, eventually they will score the ball. Nevertheless, the Pistons couldn’t battle out a board to save their season. “Fatigue makes cowards of us all,” Vince Lombardi.

Fatigue was a factor!

Remember, on Thursday night, the Pistons and Cavs played an intense, DOUBLE OVERTIME game. Then next day they traveled to another city, and probably held a practice. Then on Saturday, they played each other again with no real rest.

You could say that the double overtime game hurt the Pistons twice. Even superbly conditioned athletes need time to recover, and the older you are, the more time you need.

Daniel Gibson is 21 years old. LeBron James is 22. Drew Gooden is 25. On the other hand, Billups is 30, Wallace is 32 and Webber is 34. The Pistons are like a decade older than the Cavs!

The Pistons were tired, and to the Cavs’ credit, they were prepared to take advantage of it. The Cavaliers’ role players stepped up in a big way, particularly rookie Daniel Gibson who had 31 points on 9 shot attempts!

It is tempting to say the Spurs will have no real problems with the Cavs, but the Dallas / Golden State series keeps me from saying it. The Warriors were 4-0 against the Mavs in the regular season, and then made history in the playoffs showing it was no fluke. The Cavs’ 2-0 record against the Spurs may mean something, or mean nothing at all.

One thing I know: Popovich is one of the all-time great basketball coaches, and it is hard to imagine him failing to make adjustments.

Speaking of fatigue, I’m exhausted. Good night.