AUBURN HILLS, Mich. - All series long, the Detroit Pistons huffed and puffed. On Wednesday night, it was LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers who blew their house in.

A stunning role reversal on the Cavs’ fairy tale ride?

Maybe not.

“It’s just basketball,” James said. “They’re not the Big, Bad Wolf. And, we’re not the Three Little Pigs.”

The Pistons, on the brink of elimination after two straight trips to the NBA Finals, have not been giving much respect to the Cavs, who are in the second round for the first time since 1993.

That should change now, but will it be too late for the big, bad Pistons?

Game 6 in the best-of-seven series is Friday night in Cleveland, and if the Pistons force a Game 7, they will be back on their home court Sunday.

“LeBron is playing unbelievably, and they’re playing with a lot of confidence,” Detroit coach Flip Saunders said. “But it doesn’t mean the series is over, we just have to revert to what we did for much of the season.”

Ben Wallace blew a chance to give the Pistons the lead for the first time since early in the second quarter when he missed two free throws with 40 seconds left. That left one of the NBA’s worst free-throw shooters 0-for-7 for the game, which remained tied at 84.

James deferred to Gooden on the ensuing possession, and the power forward came through with a low-post basket to put the Cavs ahead by two with 27 seconds left.

“I took a picture of the basket,” Gooden said. “That’s what my freshman coach in high school used to tell me, take my time and make the shot.”

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After a timeout, Donyell Marshall blocked Tayshaun Prince’s shot in the lane and James tipped a rebound — off Lindsey Hunter’s missed jumper — to teammate Eric Snow, who tossed the ball down the court to kill time.

The Pistons had the ball back with 1.9 seconds left, but could not get a shot off to try to force overtime — or win the game they didn’t seem to deserve.

“That was about as perfect a game of basketball as you can play against that team,” Marshall said.

Cleveland beat Detroit 74-72 and 86-77 to even the series after being routed in Game 1 and losing Game 2 by six points after a big early deficit.

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After losing Game 3 in Cleveland, Rasheed Wallace guaranteed Game 4 would be the last game played there because the Pistons would close out the series in Game 5.

Oops.

“Everybody wrote us off, but we started to get some confidence in the second half of Game 2 and we’ve just kept it going,” Cavs reserve Damon Jones said.

Detroit hopes to draw from its postseason experience. Before the Pistons beat the Los Angeles Lakers in the 2004 NBA Finals, they fell behind New Jersey 3-2 — with three straight losses — before winning on the road and at home to advance to the conference finals.

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“I’m still not concerned because I know what we’re capable of,” Chauncey Billups said. “We’ve been there before.

“We can’t be looking for a Game 7 because if you’re not careful, there won’t be (a Game 7).”

James played like a star — again — in his first postseason appearance, and many of his teammates chipped in throughout Game 5.

Zydrunas Ilgauskas scored 14 before fouling out, Marshall had 14 points and 13 rebounds off the bench and three other players added at least six points apiece.

Prince scored 21, Billups had 17 before fouling out, Richard Hamilton scored 15, Rasheed Wallace added 10 while battling foul trouble and reserve Antonio McDyess chipped in with 11 points.