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I feel guilty just writing this, considering what he and his family are going through, but throughout the playoffs it’s been painfully clear that Larry Hughes is a liability on the offensive side of the floor. He was missing jumpers — open and contested, long-range and mid-range — blowing gimmes and making all sorts of poor decisions. And while some say his defense makes up for it, I’ve seen him get burned on several occassions because he’s way too aggressive in going for the steal. In fact, while he’s one of the NBA’s best thieves, Hughes is an overrated defender who got abused by Gilbert Arenas in round 1 and didn’t do much to stop anyone in the Detroit backcourt in games 1 and 2 of this series.

So is it a coincidence that the Cavs won yesterday while Hughes was with his family, mourning the loss of his younger brother? Maybe, maybe not. I know Hughes is a very good player but it seems he came back too early from his finger injury and he hasn’t found any sort of rhythm offensively. Flip Murray saw more minutes in Hughes’ absence and, right now, Murray is easily the team’s second-best weapon offensively so the more time he sees on the floor, the better. Plus, while Damon Jones had a down year, he’s clearly a much more dangerous shooter than Hughes.

Maybe what’s best for Hughes and the Cavaliers would be for him to stay with his family through this terrible time, and then come back healthy and focused next year, because right now it seems his family needs him more than the Cavs do.

LeBron James recorded his second postseason triple-double as the Cavaliers beat the Pistons 86-77 in Game 3 Saturday night. LeBron had 15 of his 21 points in the pivotal fourth quarter where the Cavs outscored Detroit by 12. With the game in striking distance, LeBron and Damon Jones put it out of reach with two huge three-pointers late in the fourth. Behind a raucous crowd, the Cavs played solid defense in the final quarter to inch closer in the series.

LeBron came up big and took control down the stretch but the performances of Varejao and Marshall cannot be overlooked in the game. Varejao finished with 16 points on 6 of 7 from the field and Marshall had several key rebounds as well as a couple of key blocked shots in the fourth quarter. The Cavaliers finally showed some signs of life and as long as they bring the same energy and hustle in Game 4, this series could actually turn out to be very competitive.

Detroit’s cocky, loud-mouthed forward may have possibly provided the Cavaliers with some bulletin board material after the game.

Rasheed Wallace warned the Cavaliers not to feel too giddy.
“They did what they were supposed to do,” he said. “We are still going to win this series. We’re not going to let one game discourage us.”

The Cleveland Cavaliers are trying to hold home court in this 7 game series with the Detroit Pistons, but they will have to play the next 2 games without Larry Hughes.
The wake for Justin Hughes, Larry’s brother, is scheduled for Monday night. This is the same time the Cavs and Pistons will be playing game 4.

The Cavs need Flip Murray to step up and be a floor leader if they expect to have any chance to compete against the Pistons. Cleveland seems to be in awe of the Pistons when they should be rolling up their sleeves and doing the dirty work. LeBron James can’t win alone, he needs support from the team and that includes coaching from Mike Brown.