The Red Wings Pull a Sweep While the Pistons Get Swept - All in Detroit

Well for Detroit sports fans, there is some good news and some bad news to start off the week with. First, the good news: the Detroit Red Wings swept the Columbus Blue Jackets by winning their fourth and final game of the series on Thursday, April 23. While this is great news for any Detroit fan, it's not really surprising, given the fact that the Red Wings are currently defending two consecutive Stanley Cup Championships. And if they keep playing like this, they might have a third to bring home to the city before we know it.

While surprising it is not, Thursday's game four in the first series of the NHL playoffs wasn't without its fair share of excitement. With the game tied at 5 each with less than a minute left in regulation play, Detroit's Johan Franzen managed to net a power play goal with only 46.6 seconds left on the clock - and this was all the Red Wings needed to finish the game 6-5.

And now for the bad news that no Detroit fan wants to hear: the Detroit Pistons were swept by the Cleveland Cavaliers on Sunday, April 26, when the Cavs won their fourth straight. And if you watched the game at all there was little question, if any, that the Cavaliers were going to win this one.

Making his first 4 shots of the night, LeBron James of Cleveland ended up with a total of 36 points, 13 rebounds, and 8 assists; and even led his team in a 16-6 scoring run during the middle of the third quarter. The Cavaliers' next leading scorer, Mo Williams, ended the night with a total of 24 points; the only Piston to score higher was Antonio McDyess with 26. While this was a personal playoff record for the Detroit veteran McDyess, it wouldn't be enough to win the game. With a final score of 99-78, the Detroit Pistons have been knocked out of the 2009 NBA Playoffs in the first round; giving the Cleveland Cavaliers the first spot in round 2 of the playoffs.

All in all, it's not the worst case scenario for Detroit sports fans - in fact, everything has gone more or less as expected. The Detroit Pistons have been playing subpar in comparison to some of their recent seasons, and they were never really expected to win the NBA Championship this year. And of course the Red Wings performed just as expected, as well - and they might even be looking at bringing a championship trophy back to Detroit yet.

Sources:
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hNj-muqGBYgxZjMJVSr9YppmDS5QD97OQ80O0
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Detroit_Red_Wings
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hNj-muqGBYgxZjMJVSr9YppmDS5QD97OQ80O0