CLEVELAND: These two teams are about to see a lot of each other over the next couple of weeks. They weren’t about to show anything meaningful in an irrelevant season finale.
Jordan McRae scored a career-high 36 points in a career-high 47 minutes, but missed two out of three crucial free throws in the final second with a chance to tie the game in a 112-110 overtime loss to the Detroit Pistons on Wednesday.
McRae limped to the free-throw line after he was fouled attempting a 3-pointer. He began cramping late in the fourth quarter and was hobbled throughout overtime after playing nearly 50 minutes one night after he played 46 minutes in a Development League playoff game for the Canton Charge.
McRae scored seven points in the last 1:13 of regulation to tie the game at 103 and force overtime. His 36 points were the second-most by a Cavs player this season. LeBron James scored 37 points on three separate occasions this season.
The Cavs entered the night locked in as the top seed for the playoffs, and the Pistons were locked as the eighth seed. As a result, both sides sat all of their starters. Tristan Thompson technically started to extend his consecutive games played streak to 370, but he committed a foul six seconds into the game and departed. He took the rest of the night off.
The Cavs and Pistons will meet in the first round this weekend. They last met in the postseason in 2009 when the Cavs swept the series. They also eliminated the Pistons in the conference finals in 2007 behind one of LeBron James’ most memorable postseason performances.
James was on the bench dressed in a blazer Wednesday, but he’ll be ready for the Pistons this weekend. James hasn’t lost a playoff game in the first round since Game 4 against the New York Knicks on May 6, 2012, while with the Miami Heat. He has won his last 13 first-round games.
“I think it will be difficult,” Pistons coach Stan Van Gundy said. “They’re the No. 1 seed in the East. They’re a team that went to the Finals last year. They’ve got three All-Star caliber guys — one probably the best player in the world — and their complementary guys are very good.”
The Pistons took three out of four against the Cavs this season, but Van Gundy doesn’t put much stock in it. The Cavs were without Kyrie Irving in one of the games and both teams were playing on a back-to-back in another.
“Looking at the regular season I don’t think is very instructive,” he said. “I mean, your sample size is three games. It’s just not enough of a sample size to say, ‘Wow, why’d you have so much success?’ I mean, we won two out of three. It’s not like we won 20 out of 30.”
Jodie Meeks scored 20 points off the bench for the Pistons after scoring just two points through the first 81 games. Meeks played 26 minutes Wednesday after logging 11 all year prior to Wednesday.
Jason Lloyd can be reached at jlloyd@thebeaconjournal.com. Read the Cavs blog at www.ohio.com/cavs. Follow him on Twitter www.twitter.com/JasonLloydABJ.