LeBron James missed a shot with 7.9 seconds left, allowing Detroit to escape again with a 79-76 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Thursday night and a 2-0 lead in the Eastern Conference finals.

On the previous possession, Rasheed Wallace made a fadeaway jumper on the baseline over James to put Detroit ahead.

James, who passed up a shot in the final seconds of the series opener, dribbled into the lane and missed a spinning shot in the lane with Richard Hamilton draped on him.

"I believe there was some contact, but there's been a lot of contact throughout this series," James said. "We're a no-excuse team and we can't look at the last play as why we lost. We just have to get better."

Larry Hughes grabbed the offensive rebound after James missed, couldn't make a 10-footer and Anderson Varejao was just off on a tip. After Wallace grabbed the rebound, Cavs coach Mike Brown was called for a technical foul after arguing that James was fouled on his shot attempt.

"I'm sure we feel lucky and they feel unlucky," Detroit coach Flip Saunders said.