So we have a series again.  

 Left for dead after the first two games in San Antonio, the Detroit Pistons reverted back to their championship form in Games 3 and 4 at The Palace by simply mauling the Spurs by an average margin of 24 points and appear to have taken control of the Finals.

 Not so fast.

 While I am receiving a plethora of e-mails from readers - mostly Pistons fans - who are quick to point out that I may have jumped the gun in declaring the Finals over after Game 2, let?s not forget that the Spurs, with a win in Game 5, would be right back in control of their own destiny, especially heading back to the SBC Center for Game 6 and potentially a Game 7 situation.  

 You won?t hear anyone on the Spurs ? from head coach Gregg Popovich all the way down to rookie back-up point guard Beno Udrih ? say that their Motor City mission was not complete if they?re able to steal a game on the road and head back home up 3-2.  And no matter how many Pistons fans are coming out of the woodwork right now (I love my readers, each and every one of you, I really do, no matter how hard you can be on me.  But where were you all after my post-Game 2 declaration?), there won?t be anyone in the Detroit camp who will, and should, feel comfortable down 3-2 without the home court to lean on.  San Antonio is simply that good at home and would not lose back-to-back games in front of their fans.  

 Oh, momentum can be a beautiful thing, can it not, the way it wavers back and forth between games?

 But to the Pistons? credit, with the way they have played through the first two games at The Palace, there is the distinct possibility that they could head back to San Antonio up 3-2.  

 Right now, the Pistons are playing "De-troit basket-ball.?  Defensively, Larry Brown?s crew has tightened up considerably by contesting passing lanes, forcing steals (13 in Game 4), and ? a facet of the Pistons? game not enough, especially in the national media, give them credit for ? running in transition off of turnovers (25 points off of 18 turnovers forced in Game 4) ? a formula that simply overwhelmed the heavily favored Los Angeles Lakers in last year?s Finals.  After Games 3 and 4, it is now Detroit who looks like the quicker, hungrier foe.

 ?Our defense opens up a lot of stuff,? said Game 4 hero Lindsey Hunter, who erupted for a game-high 17 points on 7-of-10 shooting, and along with fellow reserve Antonio McDyess has clearly outperformed the Spurs? reserves in the series. ?It gets you easy buckets and lay-ups.  I know that ignited me, and I think it did everyone else.?

 ?We are starting to play the way we need to play, the way we are accustomed to playing every single night,? added Chauncey Billups, who would appear to be headed towards his second straight Finals MVP honor should the Pistons go on and win the series.  ?It?s a great series.  This is what NBA Finals is all about.  It?s tied 2-2, you know, and it?s a three-game series.?

 Well, we?re not ready, by any means, to call this series a great Finals yet simply because it?s all squared up through four games.  It would be nice if both teams were playing at the top of their respective games at the same time - something we?ve yet to witness in this series.  

 The average margin of victory thus far has been a whopping 21 points.  Each team has simply stunk on the other?s home floor.  And according to Popovich, San Antonio?s first half performance in Game 4 was ?the worst half of basketball he had ever seen by an NBA Finals team.?

 ?It?s just disappointing that their physical play and their defense is taking us away from the things we normally do,? Popovich said.  ?I am pretty sure that is the same team out there that we played in San Antonio.  To see us flip-flop like that is disappointing.?

 Oh, the power of the home court in the NBA.  In no other pro sports league arguably can a home crowd drastically improve a team?s fortunes than in the Association, where even elite teams such as the Spurs and Pistons can look so out of place when playing on the road.    

 Again, the Pistons deserve to be right back in these Finals; they?ve been far and away the better team the last two games.  But where was the defensive intensity during Games 1 and 2 at the SBC Center?  Detroit can thank their fans in large part for the series turnaround.  

 However, while the nation appears to have jumped ship and hopped aboard the Pistons? bandwagon, we?re sticking with our earlier prognostication ? that these Finals are still San Antonio?s to lose.  It may not appear that way right now, but all it takes is a Spurs? win in Game 5 Sunday and momentum swings right back in their favor.  

 The Pistons may play their best when their backs are to the wall, but you can only dodge bullets for so long before you finally get burned in the end.  Detroit will want nothing to do with a 3-2 deficit heading back to the SBC Center.  

 Pistons in the driver?s seat, you say?  

 Hardly.  

 Kostas.Bolos@realgm.com