By Mike Lopresti
Gannett News Service

AUBURN HILLS, Mich. - In the end, they went their separate ways. The Detroit Pistons to the champagne in their locker room, and a celebration of the value of defense. The Los Angeles Lakers to probable disassembly, and the questions of a great season that never quite happened.

The Detroit Pistons stand for a group photograph as NBA Champions at the Palace of Auburn Hills, Mich., Tuesday. (AP photo)

The Pistons had one last show of force in the NBA Finals Tuesday night. One last display of defense and rebounding and stunning dominance. One last victory, 100-87, that gave them their first title since the glory days of the Bad Boys in 1989-90, and made an NBA champion at last of Larry Brown, who had everything else on his coaching resume.

By willpower and work ethic, by attacking the glass and shredding the Los Angeles defense, led this night by Ben Wallace's 22 rebounds and 18 points, the Pistons blew aside the Lakers 4-1 - winning by an average of 13 points and becoming the first home team to ever sweep the middle three games of an NBA Finals.

In doing so, they overturned every assumption in their way.

That the Lakers were unbeatable ... that the Western Conference was superior ... that a team must have a superstar or two to be champions.

"We've played this series with a chip on our shoulder," said Chauncey Billups, whose 14 points Tuesday capped a performance that put his name in lights and made him the Finals MVP. The award supposedly reserved for Shaquille O'Neal. And if not him, Kobe Bryant.

But on a do-or-else night, when the Lakers needed the best of Bryant, he was 7-for-21 for 24 points.

On a night they needed a rampaging O'Neal, he had two fouls in the first four minutes to blunt his aggression, and scored a quiet 20.

It may have been the last night that Phil Jackson coached either of them. Standing with his children after the game, the man with nine championships, said, "It's a pretty slim chance I'll be back coaching next year."

Meanwhile, the Pistons were coming at the Lakers in waves. All five starters scored in double figures, led by Richard Hamilton with 21. And these, too, were the numbers of a Detroit stampede - 52-32 in points in the paint early in the fourth quarter, 23-8 in fast break scoring, when it was 98-70. The largest lead of the game was 28. It was only the fourth time in 23 playoff games this season that Detroit had reached 100.

"We play team basketball. We got individual good players but we know team basketball can overcome good players any time," Billups said.

"They beat us to loose balls," Laker Derek Fisher said. "I think they wanted it more collectively as a group. ... We were a step slow too many times. They won and they deserved it."

The most telling sight for the Lakers on this final and futile night was Karl Malone, who had gone to Los Angeles seeking a title at twilight, sitting in street clothes, unable to make a last stand. Looking back, the Lakers' fate was sealed when his knee went south.

"Karl is our energy on the floor. We missed him tonight. A lot. And we missed him throughout the series," Jackson said.

In the end, Los Angeles's four-star system could not go the distance. Malone was too hurt, Gary Payton too unproductive, Bryant too cold, O'Neal too weary.

And if this were Jackson's farewell as Lakers coach, it was goodbye with the first NBA Finals defeat of his career. And a blowout at that.

For the Pistons, it has been a long wait. For the 63-year-old Brown, a lifetime, though he has repeatedly said this week a title would mean more to his family and friends than to him. All he asked is for his team to play the game the right way.

But his time had come, which was clear to those who have known him, including the former players who phoned in recent days, one after another after another.

"It means a lot," he said Tuesday night of the calls. "It means everything."

The Lakers had a brief shining moment Tuesday, with an early seven-point lead - their biggest since they hit Detroit a week ago, unaware of the misery before them.

But the Pistons rolled to a 55-45 halftime lead with shooting - hardly its most reliable weapon.

Was that Mehmet Okur burying a 3-pointer from the corner? Ben Wallace hitting all five attempts he took in the first half? The offense that had plodded through the Eastern Conference suddenly producing easy shots off the running game?

All true. The Pistons shot 60.6 percent the first half. An omen for the wipeout to come.

"We just took it to them," Tayshaun Prince said. "We knew we could play with anybody in this league. I think we showed it tonight."

The second half started promptly with a Rasheed Wallace 3-pointer. But the moment when the Lakers were finished could be identified later in the third quarter.

A Billups miss was slammed home by Ben Wallace, Bryant had the ball stripped while trying to drive, and Billups scored on a twisting move around Payton, drawing a foul for a 3-point play.

The score was 72-55. The Palace would only get louder, the lead larger, the look on Jackson's face darker.

The Pistons, largely a collection of wannabes from other ports, coached by a man who has coached in every corner of the game, were an unstoppable mission. Which became clear days ago, or even weeks.

"I think that's what makes this team so hungry," Billups said, "because we know the other side."

So do the Lakers. Now.