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Cavaliers, Pistons continue battle for top seed

Apr 8, 2007 - 3:48 PM Cleveland (46-31) at Detroit (48-27) 1:00 pm EDT

AUBURN HILLS, Michigan (Ticker) -- The Cleveland Cavaliers are running out of time to improve their playoff position. A victory over the Detroit Pistons certainly would help matters.

The Cavaliers shoot for their third straight road win Sunday when they visit the Pistons in a battle between the Eastern Conference's top two teams.

Despite being fifth in the conference standings, Cleveland owns an identical record with second-place Chicago (46-31). The Bulls, who own the tiebreaker over the Cavaliers, visit Toronto on Sunday evening.

The Cavaliers do have a favorable schedule the rest of the way, playing three of their final four games at home. Cleveland's last three contests are against Eastern Conference bottom-feeders Atlanta, Philadelphia and Milwaukee.

The Cavaliers hope to carry momentum from Friday's a 99-94 win at Washington. Despite making just 7-of-23 shots, LeBron James paced Cleveland with 25 points.

The Pistons, who will be playing their first game in four days, are just 5-4 since March 22. Detroit has a magic number of four to clinch the No. 1 seed and home-court advantage throughout the playoffs.

Detroit hopes to rebound from a 106-88 loss to Chicago. Chauncey Billups scored 17 points to lead the Pistons.

Cleveland has lost two of its three meetings with Detroit this season but posted a thrilling 101-97 overtime triumph here on March 7. James collected 41 points, seven rebounds, eight assists and three steals in the victory.