THE ROLES ARE REVERSED

Obviously Sunday’s game is pivotal for both teams. We’ll find out if the Pistons are playing over their heads and will come back to earth, and if the Spurs have really been taken out of their game so drastically by the Pistons and can get their act together once again.

Detroit’s bench has been much more productive the last two games, particularly Lindsey Hunter and Antonio McDyess. When the Pistons have seven guys hitting, they’re going to be hard to beat. They’ve also made some adjustments in their offensive patterns to get different looks, and at the same time San Antonio has not blocked them off the offensive board. The Spurs need to get much more dominant around the boards, as they were in the first two games.

To get back on track the Spurs need to control the game, play it at their tempo, get some penetration. And obviously they have to cut down on the turnovers and stop forcing passes. They need more production from Bruce Bowen and Robert Horry. I also think they’ve been too dependent on Tim Duncan inside; since that isn’t working, they need to get Nazr Mohammed into the flow. Right now they don’t have a presence inside. Rasheed Wallace has risen to the occasion and done a great job on Duncan outside and not really let him get inside, and Ben Wallace has helped inside big-time. In particular they’ve taken away the bank shot that Duncan relies on.

I think the Spurs have always depended on a certain extent on getting the calls from the officials to make their inside game work. Any time you run into people the game gets bruising and it becomes a question of who’s charging and who’s blocking, or should a foul be called at all. Right now neither team is benefitting from the officiating in that area.

In order to turn things around, the Spurs need a much more effective and aggressive transition game at both ends. When they have the ball they have to put pressure on the opposition, without forcing shots or passes, and when they’re on defense they have to guard everyone and make them make the shots. When a team is as hot as the Pistons are right now, you cannot let shots go unchallenged, and you certainly cannot let them have second and third shots whenever they put the ball up.

In a seven-game series, the best team is going to win. It still remains to be seen who that team is.

-- Michael O’Daniel also contributed to this report