updated 4:23 p.m. ET May 10, 2006

LIVONIA, Mich. - Parked cars with "Go Pistons" bumper stickers sit outside the high-tech office buildings of Quicken Loans, this Detroit suburb's second-largest employer and the nation's online mortgage giant.

On a beautiful, breezy spring day, dogwoods bloom and only the drone of speeding traffic on nearby Interstate 275 interrupts the peacefulness.

All seems in place with one notable exception: A Cleveland Cavaliers flag flying high above the center of Quicken's corporate campus, not far from where the locals scream DEE-TROIT BASKET-BALL! on game nights for their beloved NBA team.

No employee dares complain about the Cavs' waving colors, however.

That's because the boss owns them, too.

"I do get some grief in the hallways. And I say, 'That's it, no more raises,'" Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert said, joking.

Astute business moves and hometown ties have thrust Gilbert into the middle of the Pistons-Cavaliers series, which Detroit leads 2-0 after withstanding a Cleveland comeback for a 97-91 win Tuesday night. Game 3 is Saturday in Cleveland.

Not only does Gilbert own the Cavaliers, but his company Rock Financial (it's Quicken Loans everywhere but Michigan) has sponsored Pistons home games at The Palace in Auburn Hills for the past three years.

For the Detroit-area native who grew up rooting for the Pistons — the team he's using as a model to build the Cavs — Game 1 was a surreal experience for him.

"I could see my seats for the Lakers-Pistons NBA final two years ago," he said. "I felt like I had been traded."

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Make no mistake, Gilbert's loyalties are not split between the Cavaliers and Pistons. Both, though, are part of his extended family.

"I guess you could say the Cavs would be my son and the Pistons would be a nephew," he said. "You love them both, but you favor the son."

___

Since buying the Cavaliers for $375 million from Gordon Gund in March 2005, Gilbert has remodeled the club on and off the floor. Applying some of the same business models he developed at Quicken Loans, Gilbert has raised the Cavaliers visibility and revitalized a slumbering franchise.

Inheriting star LeBron James didn't hurt, either.

Gilbert has spared no expense in accomplishing his stated goal: To bring Cleveland its first world championship since 1964.

He has committed $150 million to signing free agents and spent another $12 million to remodel the Cavs' downtown home, renamed Quicken Loans Arena last summer. He's also building a $20 million practice facility in Independence, a Cleveland suburb.

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"He's committed to winning," Cavs guard Damon Jones said. "If you're pulling out all the stops, that's the first step toward being successful in the NBA."

Gilbert makes no pretenses about his desire to copy the Pistons, and there's a Detroit red-and-blueprint all over the Cavs.

Detroit's splashy game presentation _ complete with pyrotechnics, promotions and pumping music _ is mimicked at the Q, which before James' arrival was one of the NBA's sleepiest buildings.

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Beyond spending, Gilbert has shown a willingness to tear something up and start over. As the Cavs were blowing a playoff spot last season, he fired coach Paul Silas, a seemingly meddlesome move.

Then, he named Danny Ferry his general manager and hired Mike Brown as Cleveland's coach. The results: a 50-win regular season, first-round win over Washington and a chance for the Cavs to measure up to the Pistons.

"I want people to believe it can happen in Cleveland," he said.

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