Time for Camakazee’s neat-o stats of the night.

Have it Your Way.

On a peaceful Friday night, every Cavs fan behind enemy lines in Detroit soon realized that the King would have his way with the Pistons. Falling just one assist shy of a triple-double, LeBron James has not only been solid this postseason, but in recent postseason history in Detroit. Here is a look at some of LeBron’s notables:

- LeBron James recorded 9 assists, his most in a game this postseason. LeBron is now averaging 7.3 assists per game in the postseason and hasn’t recorded fewer than 6 assists in a game so far. Believe it or not, his assists per game average in the playoffs is better than that of 6 of the 7 starting point guards in the east, as Rajon Rondo is the lone exception (9.7). Furthermore, his fewest assists in a game (6), is also higher than the postseason averages of five of the starting point guards in the eastern conference (Andre Miller – 5.7, Mike Bibby – 5.3, Rodney Stuckey – 5.0, Mario Chalmers – 4.0, and Rafer Alston – 3.3).

- LeBron has also been very aggressive, looking to attack the basket and get to the free throw line. He is now 31-42 (73.8%) from the line so far in the playoffs, attempting 10+ free throws every game. Here is a look at how LeBron has become more aggressive, and has gotten to the line more as a result, since being swept in the 2007 Finals:

LeBron James (2006 & 2007 postseason): 14 games with double-digit free throw attempts (out of 33 games played; 42.4% of his games he attempted 10+ free throws). 7.1 free throws made per game.

LeBron James (2008 & 2009 postseason): 14 games with double-digit free throw attempts (out of 16 games played; 87.5% of his games he attempted 10+ free throws). 9.6 free throws made per game.

- Learning to attack the basket and get to the line isn’t the only thing that LeBron has learned to do better over the years. In the postseason LeBron has learned how to shatter the defense in Detroit and lead his team to wins. Here is a look at LeBron’s numbers in postseason games at Detroit, separated by games before the famous game 5 and from then on:

Before game 5 @ Detroit in playoffs:

- Record: 1-5.

- LeBron James (6 games): 23.3 points, 7.8 rebounds, 5.7 assists, 1.7 steals, and 3.3 turnovers on 56-129 (43.4%) shooting.

Last two games @ Detroit in playoffs:

- Record: 2-0.

- LeBron James (2 games): 36.5 points, 10.0 rebounds, 8.0 assists, 2.5 steals, and 2.0 turnovers on 27-52 (51.9%) shooting.

Obviously the trend since game 5 has been for LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers to cruise to victory, regardless of where the game is played. Before that explosive game, the LeBron James-led Cavs were only 5-6 versus Detroit in the postseason. Since then (including game 5), they are 5-0 versus Detroit, looking for their first sweep of their central division foe on Sunday.

Extra Help.

People often forget that apart from being without Zydrunas Ilgauskas for one of the games, neither Delonte West nor Joe Smith played in either regular season game versus the Los Angeles Lakers this year. If that were the case on Friday night the Cavs would’ve been in a lot of trouble, as Joe Smith scored 19 points, accounting for 24.1% of Cleveland’s points. Here is a look at some postseason notables from the talented twosome:

- Prior to arriving to Cleveland last season, Joe Smith had never won a playoff series in his career. His lifetime playoff record was a dismal 5-21. Since donning the wine and gold, however, Joe Smith has been 10-6 in the postseason.

- Believe it or not, despite logging only 19 minutes, Joe Smith managed to record a personal postseason high with 19 points. Also, while he had a slow start to last year’s playoffs, Joe Smith has been rock solid off the Cavaliers bench since. Here’s a closer look:

Joe Smith (first 8 playoff games with CLE): 4.9 points, 4.4 rebounds, and 3.6 fouls on 16-46 (34.8%) shooting. 

Joe Smith (last 8 playoff games with CLE): 10.5 points, 5.4 rebounds, and 1.9 fouls on 31-48 (64.6%) shooting. 

- It’s not hard to see that if you break up his 16 postseason games as a Cavalier by the first eight and the last eight, it is a tale of two Joes. Luckily, as he has gotten used to the team, we have the fortune of seeing good Joe this postseason.

- On the other hand, Delonte West has been very solid as a Cavalier in the playoffs since his arrival. Despite a poor showing Friday night, Delonte is still averaging a solid 11.3 points per game this postseason. Here are the combined numbers from Joe and Delonte (ala, the missing production versus the Lakers) so far through three games versus Detroit:

Joe Smith (3 games): 12.3 points and 6.0 rebounds.

Delonte West (3 gms): 11.3 points, 4.3 rebounds, and 3.7 assists.

- As Smith and West have averaged a combined 23.6 points per game, they have surely jolted the Cavaliers offense. In fact, those two alone have accounted for over 25% of the team’s total points scored. Lastly, Joe Smith has been a pleasant surprise, as he has been the second-leading scorer behind LeBron in two of the team’s first three games (he never scored the second-most points on the team in any of the 13 games last postseason).

View from the other side:

- Rasheed Wallace made himself visible for the first time this series Friday night, picking up his very first technical of the short series. Coincidentally, it also marked the first time this series that Rasheed attempted more shots than scored points (6 fga, 5 points). Wallace is now averaging 8.7 points on 11-23 (47.8%) shooting this series.