Michael Ventre

The swagger is gone.

Last year, the Detroit Pistons came into Game 1 of the NBA Finals against the Lakers brimming with seething anger at having been dismissed by critics as Eastern Conference milquetoasts. They won that game on the road, and captured the series in five. The world was impressed.

On Thursday night in San Antonio, they did it again — for one quarter. They really took it to the Spurs — for one quarter. They showed what it takes to be champions — for one quarter.

But after that first quarter, they succumbed. Their trademark ferocity was just a rumor. In the parlance of the Motor City, they were a lemon.

The result was an 84-69 victory by San Antonio for a 1-0 lead in the best-of-seven affair. And if the Pistons don’t raise their testosterone levels before Game 2, Larry Brown may take the job of Cleveland Cavaliers’ president by Game 4.

The Pistons weren’t weaklings for the entire game. In fact, the Spurs didn’t open it up until the fourth period. But the signs were there throughout.

Tim Duncan cut through the Pistons’ defense like it was made of silly string en route to 24 points and 17 rebounds. But a Duncan onslaught they could handle. Manu Ginobili mounted an attack from both flanks, up the middle, around the back and over the top. He finished with 26 points and nine rebounds and made the Pistons look like a high school team, or even worse, this year’s Lakers.

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Where was the strangulation the Pistons pride themselves on? It was there for much of the night, but when the game was being decided in the fourth, the Pistons let their guard down. They deserted their posts. They surrendered.

It may be that last year’s Lakers were ripe for the taking because the Pistons sensed they were dysfunctional and alienated from one another. It was easier to play defense on Shaq and Kobe rather than Duncan and Ginobili because Shaq and Kobe didn’t speak to each other.

Now the Pistons are faced with a real team. They haven’t seen one in a while.

Are the Pistons upset because they don’t get enough respect? Maybe they should get used to it. This year they defeated a weak Philadelphia team in five, an Indiana club in six without Ron Artest and with a banged-up Jermaine O’Neal, and a Miami Heat team that saw its best player, Dwyane Wade, at about 50 percent effectiveness in Game 7 with a rib injury.

But after concerns about Duncan’s ankle, the Spurs seem to have gotten better as the postseason has progressed. In the first quarter Thursday night, they showed the cobwebs of an eight-day layoff. After that, they asserted themselves and became the aggressors. They attacked the basket. They decoded the Pistons’ vaunted defense. They took charge.

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Meanwhile, the Pistons’ offense flopped. Aside from Chauncey Billups (25 points), everybody else on Detroit’s squad played like middle-aged weekend warriors. Richard Hamilton chipped in with 14 points, although he hit only 7 of 21 shots and got to the line for only one free throw. The only other Piston in double figures was Tayshaun Prince with 11, on 4-of-12 marksmanship.

Rasheed Wallace, who last year was the embodiment of the Pistons’ fiery mindset, did a solid job harassing Duncan Thursday night. After all, there’s only so much one mortal can do. But the workload seemed to affect Wallace on the offensive end, where he had only six points and did not get to the charity stripe at all.

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