NBA: The Pistons win over the Cavaliers in the East finals opener (79-76)

The Pistons stifled LeBron James and held on for a 79-76 win Monday over the Cavaliers in the East finals opener. Detroit 79, Cleveland 76

Preview - Box Score - Recap - Series Breakdown

(50-32)

1 2 3 4 Total Cleveland 24 17 14 21 76 Final Detroit 19 16 21 23 79

(53-29)

Auburn Hills, MI (Sports Network) - Chauncey Billups' three-pointer with 1:52 left put Detroit ahead and Cleveland came up empty on a pair of chances inside the final 20 seconds, as the Pistons beat the Cavaliers, 79-76, in the opener of the Eastern Conference finals at the Palace.

Richard Hamilton ended with a game-high 24 points and dished out seven assists for the Pistons, who are appearing in the conference finals for a fifth straight year. Billups scored 10 of his 13 points in the fourth quarter for Detroit, which will seek to take a two-game lead in this best-of-seven set on Thursday.

Zydrunas Ilgauskas had 22 points and 13 rebounds, but his missed a potential go-ahead jumper with 15 seconds left for Cleveland, which failed to score a single point over the final 2:08 of the game.

LeBron James ended with just 10 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists for the Cavs, who are in the conference finals for the first time since 1992. James shot just 5-of-15 from the field and with a chance to tie the game with under 10 seconds left, he kicked a pass out to Donyell Marshall, who missed a wide- open three-pointer.

Billups made one free throw with 2.4 seconds left and Anderson Varejao missed a desperation shot well beyond half court as time expired.