James scored a playoff career-high 48 points, pulled down nine rebounds and dished out seven assists for the Cavaliers, who won their third straight in the series to take a 3-2 lead. The superstar scored the final 25 points of the game for Cleveland and netted all 18 points the team scored in the two extra frames. Zydrunas Ilgauskas added 16 points and eight boards before fouling out.
Richard Hamilton tallied 26 points for the Pistons, who now face elimination. Game 6 of the set is scheduled for Saturday in Cleveland.
Chauncey Billups chipped in with 21 points and seven rebounds while Chris Webber finished with 20 points and seven boards.
With the game even at 104, Webber took Ilgauskas on the blocks and converted a conventional three-point play to give Detroit a 107-104 advantage with 1:28 left in the second overtime.
But, fourteen seconds later, James had the answer and buried a triple from deep on the left wing to deadlock things again at 107. The teams then exchanged misses before Detroit found Rasheed Wallace down low. Anderson Varejao came up big and blocked the shot, giving James a chance to seal it. The superstar responded and drove down the lane for a layup with 2.2 seconds remaining.
The Pistons had one last chance but Billups’ tear-drop jumper over Varejao went in and out.
Both teams struggled to score in the first overtime and were even at 96 with under two minutes to go. James tried to take over and drove hard down the lane, inducing contact and drilling a pair from the line to make it 98-96 with just 1:17 left.
After a Detroit turnover, James went back to work and gave the Cavs some breathing room by draining a brilliant off-balance jumper over Billups with 33.7 ticks remaining.
Down four, 100-96, the Pistons immediately went to Wallace on the blocks against Varejao. The former North Carolina star drew a foul and nailed two from the line to make it a one-possession game with 30 seconds on the clock.
James tried to punctuate his brilliant performance with a step-back jumper over Hamilton with 6.6 ticks left. But, this time he came up empty and Detroit had a chance to win it or tie.
Billups drove the lane and was hacked by James with 3.1 seconds left. One of the great clutch free throw shooters in history, Billups calmly sunk both and sent things to a second overtime.
The game was tied entering the final frame and remained nip-and-tuck early. The Cavs went on top by three, 81-78, with 6:05 remaining after James drained a jumper.
The Pistons responded with an 10-0 run, featuring eight points from Hamilton, over the next three minutes. Hamilton fueled the run with a mid-range jumper from the right baseline and six free throws to put the Pistons back in front, 88-81.
James finally stopped the bleeding by depositing a driving layup while drawing contact with 3:02 on the clock. The All-Star missed the ensuing free throw but the Cavs corralled the rebound and Drew Gooden went hard to the hoop and drew a foul. The forward was just 1-of-2, however, and Cleveland was down four, 88-84, with just 2:49 left.
After Hamilton missed a jumper, James dropped in a three from the top of the circle to make it a one-point game, 88-87, with 2:17 left.
Both teams tightened up at that point. The Pistons turned it over three consecutive times while James missed a pair from the line that would have given the Cavs a lead.
The third Detroit turnover gave James a chance at redemption and the superstar took it. He drove down the middle of the lane and threw down a thunderous slam that stunned the crowd and gave Cleveland an 89-88 edge with just 31 ticks left.
Billups shook it off quickly and deposited a long three from the right wing less than eight seconds later to put Detroit back in front, 91-89.
James then responded again with another driving dunk to deadlock things at 91 with 9.5 seconds remaining in regulation.
The Pistons milked the clock and went for the win at that point. Billups used a head fake and pulled up for a three but the ball came up just short and the game headed to overtime.
Things got really heated in the game late in the opening quarter when Antonio McDyess was ejected with 28.6 ticks left. James hit a diving Varejao in the lane with a no look pass and McDyess met him with a hard foul. The officials huddled and whistled the Pistons big man for a Flagrant 2 foul which carries with it an automatic ejection. James, who was cut off trying to get at McDyess after he saw the foul, was also nabbed for a technical foul.
Meanwhile, the Pistons shot 55 percent in the quarter and led by as many as seven points in the frame before taking a 29-23 lead into the second stanza.
The Cavs hung around in the second and went back on top, 47-46, after Varejao converted a dunk with less than three minutes left. The teams remained on the see-saw from there and a pair of Jason Maxiell free throws capped the scoring in the quarter with Detroit holding a precarious 52-51 edge at intermission.
The Pistons tried to shake Cleveland early in the third and came out of the locker room firing. Tayshaun Prince finished a 9-2 run to start the quarter with a lay-in and a three to give Detroit a 61-53 advantage.
The Cavs refused to fold, however, and managed to deadlock things at 65 after Varejao converted a layup with just under four minutes left in the frame. Daniel Gibson then finished the quarter by dropping in a three to even it at 70.
Game Notes
Detroit is now 6-2 as the host in the postseason and has dropped five of its last seven Game 5s in the playoffs, while the Cavaliers have won four of their last five Game 5s....History will be made if Cleveland goes on to win the series. The Pistons are 18-0 when they win the first two games of a playoff series, while the Cavaliers are 0-10 when they drop Games 1 and 2 in a series.
Cleveland Cavaliers 
Detroit Pistons 
