Cleveland has beaten Detroit 74-72 in Game Four of the Eastern Conference Semi Finals to level their seven-game series at 2-2, while Dallas is on the verge of eliminating the San Antonio Spurs from the title race after they defeated the reigning NBA champions 123-118 in overtime.

After allowing Detroit to score 113 points in Game One and 97 points in Game Two, the Cavs have dramatically improved their defense, holding the Pistons to an average of 75.5 in the last two games.

Influential go-to-man, LeBron James, had an indifferent night making just eight of his 22 attempts from the field and only contributed seven of his 22 points in the second half. He also had the dubious statistic of a game-high eight turnovers.

"Detroit is the best team in the league at shrinking the court and getting the ball out my hands," James said.

But ultimately it was Cleveland’s stellar defensive that turned it on and won the game. The Cavs pressure forced the Pistons into difficult shots, equating to the Pistons hitting only 25 of their 75 attempts from the field – a terrible 33 percent.

More importantly, they failed to score in the last 3 minutes 22 seconds of play.

Richard Hamilton hit a game-high 30 points for the Pistons, but missed a difficult driving lay-up with 9.3 seconds remaining that would’ve given Detroit the lead.

The Pistons will now return to Detroit for Game Five – the same venue responsible for the bigger scores in Games One and Two.

Rasheed Wallace, who emphatically pronounced the Pistons would beat the Cav's prior to the series, was still confident despite the narrow loss and current scoreline.

"There's no way in hell they'll beat us in a series," he said.

"They played well. I give them credit. We lost."

In Dallas, the Mavericks held on in a tight affair, which saw the game tied an amazing 20 times.

Jason Terry was the hero for the home team as he drained a rainbow jumper late into overtime to cap of one of the most enthralling playoff matches in recent times.

For Dallas, Dirk Nowitzki showed no signs of a badly-injured ankle to compile 28 points and nine rebounds. He was well supported by Jerry Stackhouse who finished with 26 points.

Tim Duncan had the chance to win the match in normal time, but his hook shot hit the front of the rim as time ran out. Duncan finished the match with 31 points, 13 rebounds and six assists, while French guard Tony Parker finished with a career playoff high of 33 points.

Game five will be played in San Antonio on Wednesday.