AUDIO: Pistons Fight But Can't Avoid Sweep by Cavs

The Pistons first playoff run in seven years ended without a win as the Cavaliers topped the Pistons 100-98 to win Game 4 and finish off a sweep of their first round series. Tobias Harris got the Pistons off on the right foot with a 10 point, 6 rebound first quarter while Andre Drummond helped fuel a 12-4 run out of the gate before picking up his second foul and watching the final 8+ minutes of the quarter from the bench. Detroit held a 28-25 edge after 12 minutes. As they did in each of the opening three games, the Pistons hit the 50-point plateau by halftime, even getting a few free throw makes from Drummond after the Cavs implemented Hack-A-Drum midway thru the frame. Despite being held to just 1 of 10 shooting from the field, Cavs forward Kevin Love had 10 big rebounds along with a team high 16 points from Lebron James to help Cleveland take a 53-52 lead into the break. After turning the ball over just four times in the first half, the Pistons turned it over three times in the opening three minutes of the third quarter and once again saw the game start slipping away early in the second half. Kyrie Irving had 10 points during the Cavs 14-4 run to start the third quarter and the Pistons suddenly found themselves down a game high 11-points with 7:30 to go in the third quarter. Leading up to Sunday night's game, Stan Van Gundy preached that the reason team's trailing a series 3-0 rarely win Game 4 is more mental than anything, that once they have one big run go against them, they lose confidence and fold up. Much to the Pistons credit, they bounced back with an 18-7 run of their own to tie the game once again with just under two minutes to go in the third quarter and would head to the fourth quarter trailing by three after a half court buzzer beater by Irvin capped a 13 point point quarter for the fifth year guard. The Cavs and Pistons had a seesaw 4th quarter until the midway point when JR Smith drained an improbable three pointer to put the Cavs up by 9 and, for the moment, appear to suck the wind out of the Palace. For one final time, the Pistons would stage a run capped by a Kentavious Caldwell-Pope three pointer with just over a minute left to pull the Pistons within a point at 97-96 but Irving hit a clutch three with 47 seconds left to put the Cavs back up by 4. A Reggie Jackson dunk pulled the Pistons within 2 and following a Cavs miss, Jackson had one final shot at the buzzer, a three - with lots of contact - but no foul called as the ball grazed the front rim and saw the Pistons playoff run come to an end on Sunday night. FINAL STATS | Courtesy of the NBA - CLICK HERE FINAL WORDS FROM THE PISTONS... The postgame locker room scene was pretty upbeat, all things considered. Here's what the participants had to say following Sunday night's finale. Follow Denny Kapp on Twitter: @DennyKapp The post AUDIO: Pistons Fight But Can't Avoid Sweep by Cavs appeared first on Detroit Sports 1051.