You could almost say it started with 3:15 to play in the fourth quarter of Game 5 at the Palace in the 2007 Eastern Conference Finals.

That's when LeBron began on his epic 48-point rampage in Motown. And that was, in some ways, the beginning of the end of the Pistons' current dynasty. They returned to the East Finals for the sixth straight time last year, but I don't think anyone thought they were going to stop the Celtics run.

Chauncey Billups now has his Denver Nuggets up, 2-1 against the Hornets in the West. And Ben Wallace has the Pistons in his rear-view mirror as the Cavaliers move on to round two. Detroit's remaining big three went a combined 3-for-24 from the floor. Tayshaun Prince looked like he was really hurting and Rasheed Wallace, who took the collar in seven attempts on Sunday, looked completely disinterested.

After Sunday's win, Big Ben sounded like he was filled with remorse over the Pistons' fortunes. "I'm sure that's a tough situation, but that's not my situation anymore. It's not my problem anymore."

After seeing most of the record 259 sellouts at the Palace, Ben was as shocked as every other Cavalier by the overwhelming support.

"Very. Very surprised," said Ben. "Six years that I've played here - win, lose or draw - regardless of whether we were winning or losing, the crowd would always get behind us. Even if they did decide to boo us, they'd boo both teams. So, it was very surprising for me today."

If you weren't one of the Clevelanders who made the trip to Detroit - and I don't know how it sounded on TV - but the Palace seemed like it was at least half filled with Cavalier fans. Not only could you hear "MVP!" chants throughout the game, but a bunch of Cavalier fans sang the famous "Na, na, na, na. Hey, hey. Goodbye" song in one end zone while Cleveland was putting the finishing touches on the sweep.

Just the thought of that would have seemed totally unthinkable just four years ago. Maybe last year.

I'm sure many of you remember going to the old Coliseum and being furious with local fans wearing "Bird" or "Jordan" jerseys and cheering for their clubs over the Cavaliers. I hated those people!

Now, LeBron and the Cavaliers are the team that fills opponents' gyms with their fans. Only on Sunday, it was Clevelanders who made the trip.

"I know Cleveland's a short drive from here, but we're in this together - players, fans," said Delonte West. "It was obvious out there today. We came out to the tunnel to a standing ovation. Normally, in a visiting building, you come out to boos and name-calling. And here, when you made a shot, you'd hear more cheers than boos. And that does wonders to your confidence."

"I was surprised," smiled Anderson Varejao, who finished with six points, five boards and a blocked shot. "We've played against Detroit before and we had something going. But it was unbelievable. We felt like we were at home. They were screaming 'MVP!' at LeBron. It was great. The Cleveland fans have been supporting us and for the first two playoff games. And now they drove here to cheer for us. We didn't expect it, but it was great."

The Pistons are still the only East team in this year's playoffs to make it to the last eight straight. And they have a promising pair of guards and a bunch of cap relief coming their way. There's even talk that a former Cavaliers power forward and free-agent-to-be might end up taking some of that cap space next year. He'll be disliked by Cavalier fans - both here and at the Palace - even more than he is already if that happens.

Rasheed Wallace probably won't be back in Detroit next year and on Sunday, he looked like it. Wallace was 0-for-7 and didn't get bent out of shape by Anderson Varejao one time.

Seeing Rasheed go gently into that good night - not drawing a single tech - in a potential elimination game, at the Palace, with Joey Crawford refereeing was as shocking as the amount of Cavs fans in the building.

The most fight we saw at the Palace over the weekend came in the form of a brawl in the stands on Friday night. You might have heard Joe Tait talking about it on the air, but it was definitely the most action I've ever seen in an arena. Actually, it was just one guy: crushing everyone in sight. He connected on every shot. Even players - from both teams - were captivated from the bench. The security guards were afraid of this guy.

He and the Pistons have a long summer to think about where they go from here.

From here, the Cavaliers get a few days off to scout, fine-tune and get a little healthy. Ben Wallace, who's been on a minute restriction, could definitely use the extra time to get back to 100 percent.

"Any time you can get some rest, it's good," said Ben. "Right now, I'm a little banged up and I could use a couple days to try to get myself back to full strength. We don't want to get relaxed and sometimes when you have a long layoff, you tend to get relaxed. You tend to beat up on each other a little bit, and you get a little overexcited when you see somebody else. But hopefully, we can stay focused and continue doing what we're doing."

The Heat and Hawks will continue slugging it out on Monday night in Miami. If the Heat can keep the Hawks in the halfcourt, they could pull the upset in the seven-game series. Either way, the Cavaliers will be here - waiting for the winner when it's settled.