[Detroit News]

A pulse
"Hopefully, this win gives us some momentum going into Miami," said Tayshaun Prince, who had 29 points, a career high in the playoffs, on a night when the three top scorers were ice cold. "Miami plays well on the road. I think the pressure is on both us and them now."

It wasn't the resounding, confidence-eroding pounding the Pistons would have liked to inflict. But for three quarters, they looked more like their old selves and, when things tightened up in the fourth quarter, they didn't buckle.

"They took their defense up another level, they just did," Heat coach Pat Riley said, "and it was very intense."

Sheed steps up to Zo
Rasheed Wallace tweaked his ankle again in Game 5, and he still can't find the range on his jump shot (seven points, 3-for-11 shooting), but he was there for his teammates early in the game.

Tayshaun Prince was fouled as he dunked on Alonzo Mourning . Prince hung on the rim briefly until traffic cleared underneath. He inadvertently brushed Mourning with his feet. Mourning shoved Prince while he was still hanging.

"I ain't cool with him," said Wallace, who immediately got into Mourning's face. "I seen him try to push on Tay and I can't have that. "There's no pushing on my man, my teammates."

When asked what he said to Mourning -- besides "Calm down," which the television broadcast caught -- Wallace said, "Nothing worth repeating."

BOB WOJNOWSKI: It's not over!
AUBURN HILLS -- Every time it seemed the end was nudging near, the Pistons repelled it. Every time it seemed Dwyane Wade would pull out more ridiculous magic, Tayshaun Prince responded.

So, yes, in answer to the question, in answer to many questions, there will be a fight after all. It was good to see, a spirited first response, as the Pistons regained their edge and took one giant step away from the ledge.

Stern's edict haunts Pistons
AUBURN HILLS -- Before you realize why Joe Dumars did the right thing in hiring Flip Saunders last summer and installing a more offense-driven approach to the team, understand this isn't about conspiracy theories or plots to undermine Pistons basketball as you've come to know it.

The plain truth is NBA commissioner David Stern wanted the game changed after the Pistons won the title in 2004.

He tweaked the rule book to facilitate more offensive flow. He stopped all the bumping and grabbing on and off the ball. He opened the floor up for quick and powerful players such as LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and countless others who will carry the league's marketing banner into the future.

He did it because he felt the game had grown stagnant, and that oppressive defenses such as the Pistons' choked the life out of it. He hated the isolation plays that were bringing action to a standstill. More importantly, he noticed fans -- who filled the arenas and watched on television -- were starting to hate it, too.

Scoring sells, and Stern set out to loosen the shackles on offense. In so doing, he essentially legislated against lockdown, physical defensive teams such as the Pistons and Spurs.

To this day, he does not apologize for it, nor will he undo the changes.

[Detroit Free Press]

MITCH ALBOM: Two to go!
Now, to be honest, if you're a Pistons fan, you're torn this morning between being glad and mad. You're happy the team is still alive in these Eastern Conference finals, but you believe if it had played like this in any of those losses, it wouldn't have been on the brink of elimination in the first place.

Here was the energy that had been missing in Games 1, 3 and 4. Here was the extra pass, the whipping of the ball to the other side for an open look. Here was the swarming defense.
And, yes, here was some balance to the foul calls. The Heat shot 47 free throws in Game 4 and just 20 in Game 5, and it missed 14 of those. You can't count on that happening again.

So, yes, it was a fine victory, a continuation of the Pistons' tradition of staving off the killer's blade, which now stands at 8-1 in games in which they faced elimination since 2004.

But it should not take the feel of a wall against your back to make you play your best. As Wallace said, "It was easy to come out with energy tonight."

DREW SHARP: Pistons run past Heat in Game 5
Desperation can spawn energy, producing a little extra fuel where fatigue had taken up residence. And there's nothing more desperate than the realization of a season almost over and a dream almost dashed.

The Pistons had been bogged down by their own self-loathing. They finally shut up and played their game Wednesday night, defeating the Miami Heat in Game 5, 91-78. They moved the ball offensively, moved their feet defensively, and in the process, they moved all the pressure in the Eastern Conference finals onto Miami.

McDyess' 10 points key in second half
McDyess helped the Pistons hold on to their lead at the start of the fourth quarter, hitting Detroit's first three buckets from the field to keep the Heat from whittling away the eight-point advantage Detroit enjoyed at the beginning of the quarter.

His two 16-footers served as bookends to his most powerful statement -- a rebound dunk off a Lindsey Hunter miss.

Miami never got closer than three points for the rest of the quarter.