Written by Tony Lastoria

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The Cavaliers return home today in a crucial must-win Game Three at The Q.  Down 0-2, the Cavaliers find themselves in the exact same predicament as they did last year when they were down to the Pistons 0-2 in the playoffs, yet stormed back to take a 3-2 lead before bowing out in seven games.  Can the Cavs fight back into this series like last year?  We asked the writers of The Cleveland Fan in our latest roundtable.

"The Roundtable" is a regular weekly Sunday feature that will continue throughout the year covering hot topics surrounding the Browns, Buckeyes, Cavaliers, and Indians. One question. Several different answers from TheClevelandFan.com panel. 
 
The Cavaliers return home today in a crucial must-win Game Three at The Q.  Down 0-2, the Cavaliers find themselves in the exact same predicament as they did last year when they were down to the Pistons 0-2 in the playoffs, yet stormed back to take a 3-2 lead before bowing out in seven games. 
 
Games One and Two really could have gone either way, and the Cavs are two made wide open jumpers from Donyell Marshall and Larry Hughes from being up in this series 2-0 instead of being down 0-2.  Still, making or missing those shots is usually the difference from advancing and staying home in the playoffs when you have two pretty evenly matched teams facing off with one another. 
 
The question now is, can the Cavaliers come back and win this series and win four in a row or four of five against the Pistons?  Since going up 3-2 in the series last year, the Cavs are now 1-7 against the Pistons in their last eight games, including playoffs.  Is it realistic to expect the Cavaliers to win four of five after such poor results against the Pistons the last eight games?  TheClevelandFan.com writers opine…

Rich Swerbinsky:  We saw last year that the Cavs are capable of coming back and winning four of five against this Pistons team.  And this is a better Cavs team than last year.  However, having given away games one and two late, my gut tells me it's going to be very tough for them to win this series.

In addition, this is a Pistons team that is at it's best when challenged, and at their worst when they feel comfortable.  Last year, after smoking the Cavs in game one and two, the Cavs hit 'em with a left and a right before they knew what happened.  This years Pistons team, after being pushed to the limit in the first two games, will be much more on edge for games three and four this year ... games the Cavs MUST win to have any semblance of a chance.

Also, while this year's Cavs team is better, so is this year's Pistons team.  Detroit is so good defensively already, CWebb for Big Ben is an upgrade in my view.  Also, the team has more confidence in Flip Saunders and his system in his second year coaching the team.

That all said, the Cavs have a shot ... IF they can win these two home games tonight and Tuesday and make it a three game series.  But again, my gut just tells me ... you can't give away games against a team as good as Detroit and hope to win the series. 

I pray I'm wrong.  GO CAVS.

Tony Lastoria:  Can the Cavaliers come back and win this series. Yes.  Will they?  Probably not. 
 
I’ll be rooting like hell for the Cavaliers to win tonight and also the rest of the series, but let’s be realistic here.  The Cavs face some pretty touch odds to win this series.  According to WhoWIns.com, teams up 2-0 in the Conference Finals have a 55-2 lifetime record in the NBA Playoffs.  That is a .965 winning percentage, which puts the Cavaliers at roughly 1 in 25 odds at coming back and winning this series.  In the HISTORY of the NBA, only 11 teams have ever come back from an 0-2 deficit in the playoffs and won it as the team up 2-0 is 182-11 (.943) all-time. 
 
Anything can happen, and I hope for once that “anything” does happen to Cleveland for once.  I mean, this IS Cleveland ya know?  We don’t get breaks, so my expectations of coming back and taking this series are pretty low.   
 
I actually expect the Cavaliers to come out and win tonight, because teams down 0-2 are actually 115-78 (.596) all-time in the NBA Playoffs in Game Three.  Of course, watch us come all the way back and force a Game Seven…..and lose.  It would be so Cleveland, and it’ll leave yours truly crushed for the umpteenth time. 
 
John Hnat:  Yes.  Lest we forget, the Cavs were in this exact same situation against the Pistons last year -- down 0-2 as the best-of-seven series returned to Cleveland.  The Cavs then won three straight against Detroit (including a clutch Game Five win in Motown), and were one defensive rebound away from winning the series in Game Six. 
 
The precedent is there.  If the effort and the breaks are there too, then the Cavs will make it to the Finals. 
 
Hiko:  The Cavaliers were in an 0-2 hole last year, and they came back to take the next three.  Additionally, they had every chance to win Game 6 in that series. 
 
In both games in this year's Eastern Conference Final, they had a legitimate shot at winning.  They can certainly play with Detroit, and the series is shifting back to Cleveland, where the home crowd will hopefully give the Cavaliers a big lift. 
 
So add these two points together, and the answer is obvious:  No way in hell do they come back and win this series.  The Pistons are too veteran, too experienced, and too talented to let a Cavs team that has seemed stuck in 2nd gear throughout the playoffs (despite the success)

win 4 out of 5.  It was a fun run, but we're one piece away from a legitimate title shot. 
 
Erik Cassano:  Yes, the Cavs can come back and win. Last year's rally from a 2-0 deficit against the Pistons showed us that. 
 
Unfortunately, replicating last year's stunning comeback might be more difficult. The Pistons were one of the best road teams in the NBA this season, and they remember how the series turned on a dime last year when the scene shifted to Cleveland. They probably won't let their guard down like they did last year. 
 
Having said that, neither team has played particularly well so far, and the Pistons, like the Cavs, have shown a tendency to slack off in spite of themselves. 
 
Maybe playing in front of a raucous home crowd will be the fuel additive that pushes the Cavs over the top for a couple of home wins. The Cavs are far better at closing out games at home than on the road, and they're going to need to take advantage of it. The Cavs absolutely must win Games 3 and 4 and shorten this series to a best-of-three. If the Pistons take even one of the next two, it's all over.