I EXPERIENCE CONSTERNATION DURING GAME THREE: Just the way I fear the Lakers in general, that aura of inevitability they give off. Like, that even though they don't look like they have a clue how to penetrate Detroit's defense--as of half way through the 2nd quarter, they have scored three points in that quarter--they will win anyway. Not so much that they'll find a way to win, but a win will drop in their laps, a la Game Two. That whatever god that has blessed Phil Jackson will drop another cloud over the eyes of his opponents. I have no reason to believe this given the way the Lakers have played thus far, it is just based on the accumulated good fortune of the Lakers over the past few years. And if it's hard for me to believe that the Pistons can fight a pattern of destiny, I imagine some of that must be in the Pistons' heads as well.

Or maybe not. Maybe they're just like, Well, whatever. As they should be if they want to have any hope to win this thing.

This guy in the Detroit News is really mocking fate--almost dangerously so:

Apparently, one thing we’re just gonna have to accept, as these NBA Finals go on, is that it’s all about the Lakers, even when it’s not all about the Lakers.

A few untrained eyes saw the Pistons playing their standard stuffy defense in their Game 1 victory. The Lakers, reigning NBA Divas, didn’t quite see it that way. Maybe they were too busy yawning and preening to see straight, or shoot straight.

In many ways, the Lakers are a disgusting team. Disgustingly arrogant, disgustingly dysfunctional, and on occasion, disgustingly good. It’s virtually a guarantee they’ll be awake and inspired for Game 2 tonight.

But here’s what the L.A. boys might not realize, as they pick and choose when to play, and whose turn it is to take shots. The Pistons’ defense is more a riddle than an anomaly, not simply solved with increased effort and concentration.

The Lakers will show up tonight, fashionably late. And when they step on the floor, they’ll see those same annoying Pistons, fabulously flawed on offense, ferociously functional on defense.

And then:

“We beat ourselves,” O’Neal said. “I think it has gotten our attention. We realize that team is not going to lay down because the Lakers are in the building. It’s not anything they did to throw us out of our game. I just think it’s more us.”

Maybe, truthfully, that’s how it will turn out. The Lakers can turn it on better than anyone. But to lose by 12 at home, and shoot 39 percent, and have Payton in a complete funk, the Lakers look legitimately discombobulated. The Pistons, who have been lucky to top 35 percent in these playoffs, shot 46 percent in Game 1, the most startling statistic.

Of course, something always is amiss with the Lakers, and they usually figure it out in time. They trailed San Antonio 2-0 before righting themselves.

So it makes no sense for the Pistons to be offended, and outwardly, they’re not. Actually, they’re used to being dismissed.

“When a team doesn’t shoot well, I don’t care who you are, it’s hard to say it was the defense that did it,” Joe Dumars said as he watched practice. “I don’t look at that as a slight or anything. But this is the NBA Finals, and I expect a team to be ready. To say we caught somebody off guard is a little amusing to me.”

In other words, no alibis, please. This is what the Pistons do, when they do what they do. By rotating personnel and changing defenses, they force the opposition to reassess its offense. The Pistons have won four of their last five road playoff games by keeping it close, until the other team withers.

Maybe he isn't talking at fate too much, actually. But he is establishing that the Pistons are very much unlike any opponent the Lakers have faced in their previous championships. Who were teams with good offenses, but basically orthodox defensively. So when the Lakers put in into extra gear they could throttle the hell out of the other team at key moments. But "throwing it into gear" doesn't exactly change the game on the Pistons, since to throw it into gear would be to approach where the Pistons are defensively for most of the game. So PhilJax is going to have to try some other tricks, if he has them.

Lakers 32, Pistons 39 at the half. The only thing more comical than a Detroit Pistons fast break is a Ben Wallace dunk attempt. But you can't get mad at the Pistons too much because than they go down to the other end and prevent scoring in possession after possession. It's legit offense by subtracting the other team's points. Darnedest thing.

I wish the Lakers weren't hanging around, though.

Fred Kaplan: Reagan's Cold War "victory" was actually a collaboration with that other 80s hero, Mikhail Gorbachev. Essentially, he says that the peaceful end to the Cold War was a result of having these two weirdos in charge of their respective nations, and the specific interplay between the two of them. Interesting stuff.

Diana Moon on reactions to Reagan's death.

The second half, begins. With stomach a-queasy, I resign myself to watching it.