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We have seen some great defensive basketball in the last few weeks. After all, great defense is a big part of what the NBA Playoffs are about. Tuesday night, the Detroit Pistons put on yet another defensive clinic, but this one will not soon be forgotten.

With about seven minutes remaining in the first half of Game 5, the Indiana Pacers found themselves leading by four, 31-27. It was then that Larry Brown's troops decided to put the clamp down. Detroit closed out the half with a 15-4 run.

Looking at it on paper, you might be led to believe the Pacers were very much in the game at the intermission. The deficit was only seven points despite shooting 37 percent to that point. And I will hazard a guess here that the Pistons weren't too thrilled about shooting only one free throw through the game's first two quarters.

So out they come to start the second half and how does Indy respond? Not a single solitary point until the 5:35 mark of the third.

Under different circumstances, Jeff Foster's bucket might have seemed like an oasis smack-dab in the middle of the Sahara to Rick Carlisle. But on this night, it was merely a mirage. There was absolutely no relief in sight. Ben Wallace saw to that.

The Pistons, utilizing what seemed at times to be six defenders on the floor, opened the third quarter with a 15-0 run. When Foster made his lay-up, Indiana stopped a 30-4 blitz, but certainly not the bleeding.

Quite honestly, numbers don't do the Pistons justice here. This was not ugly basketball. Rick Carlisle would certainly disagree with that sentiment, but watching Detroit do all the little things a lot of other teams, as well as fans, take for granted is an experience in itself.

Detroit plays the passing lanes. Hands are everywhere. Shots are contested and there is little in the way of open looks. It had to be dizzying from a Pacer point of view. Make no mistake about it; Indy wasn't at all sharp last night. Jermaine O'Neal, Reggie Miller, and the rest came out of the locker room extremely flat to start the second half.

Stephen Jackson could not shed Tayshaun Prince for a second. Chauncey Billups simply draped Jamaal Tinsley. And just about every Pacer wore Ben Wallace. There was no escape. The Pistons were swarming.

And so, Detroit is now up 3-2 in this series. Interesting fact of note: there have been 123 instances in the history of the NBA Playoffs that a series has been tied at two games apiece heading into the fifth game. The winner of Game Five has won 84 percent of those series. And three times that has been the case this postseason as well.

A final thought about the Pacers/Pistons: As this series wears on, the disparity of athletic ability between these two clubs is becoming increasingly obvious. Detroit has an enormous advantage here. They are simply bigger, stronger, and faster up and down the lineup. It's not even close.

Typically, you may see a gap between two teams in this area. A given squad might be quicker in certain areas than their opponent. Perhaps one team is more athletic at point guard and power forward, but not at other spots on the floor.

In this case, Indiana is simply unable to match up in terms of athleticism. You could make the case that Jermaine O'Neal could hold his own somewhere, but that's about it. Big Ben, Rasheed Wallace, Tayshaun Prince, Rip Hamilton, and Chauncey Billups are not close to being rivaled athletically by what Indy is throwing out there.

Bless Rick Carlisle. He is an incredibly talented coach - one of the best this league has to offer. His group of plodders are playing their ever-loving hearts out against a group of finely-tuned thoroughbreds.

But all the timeouts in the world can't save them now.

Email Spangler at scott55@insidehoops.com (remove the "55")