Rival puts knowledge to good use

AUBURN HILLS, Mich. – The battles between Tim Duncan and Rasheed Wallace date to their days on opposite ends of Tobacco Road, when Wake Forest played North Carolina and the two young big men were just starting down the path that has led them to these NBA Finals.

They faced each other for two years in college, and now for eight years in the pros, giving Wallace hundreds of minutes of firsthand experience learning the ins and outs of Duncan’s game. That inside information has helped the forward with the scruffier beard make the two-time finals MVP look almost ordinary.

“You can go back and look at the films. It was definitely some great battles,” Wallace recalled Friday while basking in the glow of another superior defensive effort on Duncan as the Detroit Pistons evened the NBA Finals against the San Antonio Spurs at two games apiece.

Duncan shot just 5 for 17 while being guarded at different times by Rasheed Wallace, Ben Wallace and Antonio McDyess. And Duncan’s inability to generate any kind of offensive consistency was one of the key factors in the Spurs getting trounced by 31 points against a team they handled with ease in Games 1 and 2.

Game 5 is Sunday night, the complexion of the series having done a complete flip-flop over the course of a few days. The Pistons have ratcheted up the defensive intensity they’ve become known for, making the series more physical while routing the Spurs in two straight games.

All the momentum has swung to the team whose versatility, length and intensity have overwhelmed the Spurs while making the prospect of a second straight championship in Detroit look a whole lot brighter than it did when the week began.

Duncan is averaging 18.0 points in the series, down from his playoff average 23.5, and shooting 39 percent from the field – a drop of over 11 percentage points from his career average.