Pistons Are Facing Uncertainty at an Inopportune Moment
By LIZ ROBBINS

AUBURN HILLS, Mich., May 30 - Midway through the fourth quarter of Game 3 on Sunday night, the Detroit Pistons lost their way and their iden y. Suddenly, they seemed to be heading "the wrong way," to coin the opposite of their coach's pet phrase.

The Pistons allowed Miami to shoot 52 percent from the field and fell, 113-104. They lost their poise and committed two technical fouls in the final five minutes. They also missed 15 free throws.

All this was uncharacteristic coming from Detroit, the defending champion, which enters Tuesday's Game 4 burdened by one weighty question - the future of its coach, Larry Brown.

Pistons players say the possibility of Brown's departure - to Cleveland to become the Cavaliers' president of basketball operations - is not a distraction. On the surface, it seems to be only an annoyance. But while the Heat and Shaquille O'Neal are reveling without any internal disturbance, the Pistons provided a sober contrast Monday at practice.

They say they work better under adversity, but the uncertainty of Brown's future is contributing to the instability of his team, which is trailing in the Eastern Conference finals, 2-1. "I didn't know about it, I don't know if the team knew about it," Tayshaun Prince said about Brown's discussions with Cleveland. "Hey, if he can't come to us and talk to us first before he tells you all, then that's a problem."

Brown has talked about his health to his team and to the news media. But he has not talked about the discussions he had with the Cleveland owner, Dan Gilbert.

"We don't think about it," Richard Hamilton said of Brown, who has three years left on his Pistons contract. "It's like a guy who will be a free agent. You don't know what will happen next year. You play with what you got."

The Heat players can only shrug and be thankful for the relative calm.

"It's been a drama-less year for me," said O'Neal, who is a season removed from losing to the Pistons in the finals with the Los Angeles Lakers. "I'm not used to that, coming where I've come from last year. It's fun and it's quiet, and we intend to keep it that way.

"We don't have people on this team with personal agendas."

O'Neal scored 24 points in Game 3, and he said his bruised right thigh was starting to improve. Still, he was not about to credit that improvement for his 6-for-6 stretch of free throws in the fourth quarter.

"The thigh bone is not connected to the free-throw bone," O'Neal said, his funny bone clearly in place.

Dwyane Wade continued to torment the Pistons, scoring 36 points, after his 40-point outburst in Game 2. But the Heat also received contributions from the role players Eddie Jones and Rasual Butler, who made crucial shots from the perimeter when Wade was sent to the bench with five fouls in the fourth quarter.

With its unselfish play and strong defense, the Heat shut down the Pistons for four minutes in the fourth quarter, not allowing a field goal in that stretch and playing what Brown would call the "right way."

Stan Van Gundy, the second-year Heat coach, is apparently not a fan of motivational slogans. "I don't even know what that means," he said. "Playing 'the right way' is doing whatever is best for your team to try to win the game."

That was left for Brown and the Pistons to figure out - again. "I don't know how you can play defense when you're putting people on the line," Brown said. "Then when you get in foul trouble, it's really hard to be aggressive defensively, and they made shots."

Lindsey Hunter, the reserve guard, had a rattling effect on Wade in the second half, challenging him before he could penetrate at the top of the key. What Prince, Wade's primary defender, gains in length, he loses in speed. Brown said that he would use Hunter again off the bench.

Wade, though, has been most effective in the pick-and-roll. With O'Neal starting to regain his form in the paint, the Pistons are picking their poison. With Eddie and Damon Jones and Butler making 3-pointers, the alternatives are unsettling.

"That's been our biggest thing, trying not to help so much, so you can't give Damon Jones and Butler and Eddie Jones free looks at the basket," Hunter said.

The Pistons also gave the Heat free looks - at the foul line - and missed their own. "We're too good of a team to let little things affect us, especially this late in the season," Chauncey Billups, the Pistons' captain, said. "This is when we play our best basketball, with our backs against the wall."

The Pistons trailed by 2-1 in the conference semifinals against Indiana and won in six games. Last season, they were down by 3-2 to the Nets in the conference semifinals and won in seven.

"We got to go out there and play Detroit basketball, which is defense," Antonio McDyess said. "There are no excuses for what we did."

Brown, meanwhile, criticized his players for losing their poise and not being able to finish well. He said of Miami's players, "They're doing all the things you're supposed to do to be a championship team."