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The Detroit Pistons, playing at home, dominated the Los Angeles Lakers in Game 3 of the NBA Finals, winning 88-68 and taking a 2-1 series lead. Here's what various Pistons said after the game:

LARRY BROWN

Q: Did you know, and if so, when did you know that your team would be okay emotionally after what happened Tuesday night?

Brown: Were you here before, when I -- I didn't know if we -- if we would play great, but I think I told everybody that very few times, I've been around pro athletes where they didn't give their best, teams I've coached. And this team, I knew we'd play hard and try to play the right way.

I didn't think we played the right way the first half. We had five assists. Our guards didn't have any. I thought we defended great. I was a little disappointed. I thought our effort was great, but we were trying to win by ourselves in some cases offensively. But I knew we'd play hard.

Like I said, we were crushed, but after we landed, I think we started thinking about the next game and the next possession.

Q: I know you wanted to win the ballgame, but how surprised are you at the way you dominated the Lakers?

Brown: Oh, I'm shocked. But, I mean, we played so good defensively. You know, we kept people in front of us, we limited them to one shot for the most part. You know, we kept people off the free-throw line. I think one of the keys to keeping any team off the line is being able to prevent dribble penetration off fast break opportunities and we did that. We did that in Game 1.

In Game 2, I thought, you know, they controlled those areas. So I'm shocked. You know, I'm a big fan of the Lakers. It's difficult with Karl's situation. You know, I'm aware of that. It is certainly not the same team without Karl Malone, and that's disappointing. But, you know, I'm really proud of the way we played.

Q: After Game 1, you said you didn't think your team could defend any better, but in that game, Kobe and Shaq kind of got loose for theirs. In this game, they didn't. How surprised are you by that element of your team's defense?

Brown: Well, I don't think we can defend better than tonight. You know, hey, we held them to 68 points, shooting 40 percent. For us that is an incredible accomplishment.

I'll tell them that, you know, I told you guys, this is as good as we can play. You know, the first half, no, we didn't play the right way. You can't have five assists and guards not having any assists.

But the second half, I think we had 19 field goals and had a considerable number of assists. We made extra passes and our defense allowed us to get out and run a little bit. And then, you know, they had to try to score more against a set defense, so that really keyed a lot of things.

Q: What do you expect from the Lakers in Game 4?

Brown: I don't even want to think about it. God, you guys, I almost committed suicide on the flight back from L.A., and tried to get over that. I'm going to enjoy this.

I always say this. My wife is here. I don't get to see her a lot. I get to hug my kids.

But to really answer your question, they are a special team. They have a special coach. You know, they won nine championships with Phil. I don't think they have panicked. I've watched all the playoff games. When I'm sitting here and telling you guys I felt our team would be ready to play, I have no doubt that they will be ready to play. They have got some prideful guys, and we're going to have to play our best game the next one.

Q: The Lakers have historically played extremely well on the road, especially in the Finals and you experienced that a few years ago. Did that surprise you that you were able to dominate so much, because they usually elevate their game so much when they go on the road?

Brown: Again, like my players reminded me, we are not the same team as Philly. I just watched that on Classic Sports today. We had Raja Bell, Jumaine Jones, Rodney Buford, Todd McCulloch who was a rookie and Kevin Ollie, and that was our bench.

And they beat us all three games, and they were great, but I thought we played great. This is a different team.

The Lakers, you don't win championships if you can't win on the road, and we're all aware of that. This game is over. I don't think it's going to have any bearing on the next one. And I truly believe they will play their best game, and I've got to make our guys understand that. That's been a hard thing for me, my challenge to get them to understand that.

Q: How critical was your guard play to this victory?

Brown: Well, I think, I look at their guards, they have pretty good guards. And all year, I think our guards, when they play the complete game, when they take shots that are available, hit open people, you know, start our defense, run the break, that's when we are at our best. And tonight, I think for the most part, especially in the second half, they did all of those things.

So, if we have any chance of keeping this series going, we've got to have effort like that from our guys.

Last thing. The stats on Rasheed and Tayshaun and Ben and Elden are deceiving. You know, they all -- I mean, you can't guard better than Tayshaun guarded, and I don't think you can guard better than our big people did or rebound the ball, so they all work hand in hand.

CHAUNCEY BILLUPS

Q: Could you talk about the morale of the team after Game 2 and the way you responded tonight?

Billups: Well, you know, it was a heartbreaker to lose that game, being in control with 30 seconds left. You know, we've lost some tough ones this year and come back that next game and played a little flat, and today -- you know, we learned from that. We wanted to come out, we came in yesterday and watched the film and let it go. We came in and just let it go. We learned form our past experiences earlier in the season and we came out very aggressive. We knew this team would come on our first home game and be very aggressive and try to push the tempo a little bit. They did that, we had them scouted well. It was just a combined effort from everybody. Tayshaun was phenomenal doing a defensive job tonight in limiting Kobe to really only 13 shots.

Q: You guys controlled pretty much the majority of the minutes in the three games this series. Do you guys feel like you guys are the better team thus far?

Billups: Well, you know, we know we're playing against a great team. We just don't want to give them too much momentum. We feel as a unit, we are a great unit. We play together, we know that they have got some great individual players that are almost unstoppable to play one-on-one. But for us, you know, we've just got a great unit. We can hurt you in so many different ways, you know, Rip can get going. Rasheed can get going. Tay hits big shots. I can get going. Our bench is very good.

Just as a team, I think we are just a very, very good basketball team.

Q: Talk about the big guys, Wallace and Wallace, and the job they are doing in causing that kind of confusion for Shaq and some of the other players up front for the Lakers.

Billups: I think Ben and Rasheed and Elden, Okur, I think as a whole, they are doing a great job. They are fighting very, very hard down there. You know, they have got a tough task, man, playing against that big guy. He's immovable, so we try to just change up our defense and play him in different ways and just not let him know how we're coming, when we're coming, where we're coming. Sometimes we play head up, sometimes we front, sometimes we come from the back side. We are just trying to mix it up and I think those guys are doing a great job of battling. Even when he does get a shot up, not letting him get another shot, you know, boxing him out. I think those guys are really just going a great job.

On the other end they are looking to be aggressive and attack when they have opportunities. I think they are doing a great job.

Q: You seem to be striking a balance now between when to shoot and when to pass. Do you feel like you're in your groove that way now as a point guard?

Billups: You know, I'm just trying to be aggressive. When I'm aggressive, you know I'm looking to make plays. Whether it's for myself or somebody else, if I can come off a screen-and-roll, then I've got a shot, I'm going to take it. If I come off and they take me, I'm going to make that pass. Might not be the scoring pass, but it's a pass to get it to the other side of the court. I know they will probably make some adjustments and things like that, but, you know, I'm feeling good.

Q: Coach Brown said he was not happy with the number of assists you guys dished out on the first half. What did he tell you at the half?

Billups: Well, he just said that, you know, we weren't sharing the ball, and I don't know if it was that, we just couldn't make shots, you know, it was 39 points. There wasn't that many assists to be had.

That's usually a telling stat for us. When we don't have a lot of assists, that means we're really not getting the ball from side to side and not getting out and getting fast break points. So, you know, today we didn't have that many, but we played good enough defense where we was able to get by in a convincing win. Usually when he says something, he's right. You know, he's right. It's just different ways to get assists. Sometimes it's not an assist, the ball might be moved from side to side and two or three people touch it, but it's not that assist for that guard. You know what I mean?

It all works out at the end.

Q: Can you talk about the challenge the next two games, knowing if you can do it here possibly?

Billups: Well, we're not thinking about Game 5 right now at all, man. We've got to think about Game 4. We've got to take this thing, really, one quarter at a game. People talk about one game, but with a team like this, who can get the momentum, it's very hard to stop. You look at what they did, Kobe shot that shot at the end and they rode that momentum and really blew us out in overtime the other day. We are taking this thing one quarter at a time. You've got a chance, you look down the road like that, but we can't look down the road. This is a team that's been battle tested, that's been in these situations time and time again, with some great players with a lot of experience, so we can't look at that. We've got to worry about how we are going to play Game 4, period.

Q: You've been around the league, you've had a lot of coaches, Pitino, a big crew, you guys are in unbelievable shape. What did Larry Brown do differently throughout the season that other coaches didn't do?

Billups: Well, you know, we practice hard. We practice hard. In practicing hard, even if you play a lot of minutes, nobody on this team sits out of practice, ever, unless it's a bad injury. So you look at other teams that I've been on, and it's easy to fall out of shape during the season if you're not playing a lot of minutes because you're not practicing that hard. We practice hard. We go through things very hard in game-like situations. He emphasizes that.

He doesn't allow you the opportunity to fall out of shape a little bit, slip out of shape a little bit, because we go so hard.

Q: I wanted to ask you about Tayshaun Prince, a young guy playing against Kobe Bryant, a guy he admits was his idol. Do the veteran players talk to him about settling him down or do you just come to this Finals with a mature attitude?

Billups: Well, Tay, he's a younger player but he's very mature for his age. If you look at this year's playoffs, he's had some very tough match-ups. The first round he had Desmond Mason, second round he gets Richard Jefferson, third round he gets Ron Artest and now he gets Kobe. He's had some tough, tough matchups and he just steps up to the challenge. His length and his athletic ability I think bothers a lot of people. I think it really bothered Kobe tonight.

Tay is a guy who you really don't have to -- you don't have to sit down and have talks with him, because he's really a mature player for his age and he knows what it takes and he knows how to get it done. I think he's playing great.

RICHARD HAMILTON

Q: Shaquille said that most of this outcome was effort related, do you agree with that, and how were you able to beat them to the punch so often after what happened Tuesday night?

Hamilton: I think tonight we really came out and played with a lot of energy. We really fed off our fans. I think we did a great job of playing connected, playing together on both ends of the floor. We shared the ball. Everybody had each other's back on the defensive end. I think guys did a great job tonight of really playing together.

Q: Tayshaun said when you and Chauncey play like you did tonight, you guys are a great team, would you agree with that?

Hamilton: I mean, I think -- I believe we are a great team anyway. (Smiles).

I think when me and Chauns are on, it's hard to stop us, especially when we take good shots. I think tonight, we really let the offense dictate our shots. We really never went out of it to take shots and try to go individually one-on-one and things like that. Everybody did a great job of setting us up. Chauns really executed well on the pick-and-roll and made shots. He passed when he had to pass, and you need that from your point guard.

Q: You guys pretty much outplayed the Laker guards, how do you explain how you were able to execute that?

Hamilton: Got to give credit to Coach Brown. He did a great job of preparing us, putting us in positions where we can succeed. You know, he looked at a lot of tape and said, okay, they are taking this away, so we are not going to go that route, we are going to mix our offense up and run different plays. Because a lot of plays is not the same ones that we have been running in the Indiana series, the New Jersey series and things like that.

We've been just listening to him and coming out and playing well.

Q: Coach said at halftime he wanted to strangle you, why was that?

Hamilton: I don't know. Coach was telling me to slow down. You know, he makes me see the game at a whole new different level. That's the one thing I respect about him, because he's just not going to let me go out there and do what I want to do. Sometimes it's harsh, and I get upset and he gets upset. But for the most part, he's just doing that to help me. He just told me to slow down and let the offense dictate my shots and keep moving out the ball.

TAYSHAUN PRINCE

Q: Tayshaun, I wanted to ask you, when you're guarding Kobe Bryant, what things are you thinking about running through your head? And what are the keys to try to prevent him from really getting off and making spectacular dunks and that type of stuff?

Prince: For the most part I just try to use my length. I think, you know, just trying to say this over and over, because for the most part, he's quick. He's got a different variety of moves. So, for the most part, just trying to use my length and stay in front of him. You know, the times that you let him get one step past you, that's the time that he scores.

But everybody keeps asking me, you know, as far as how you're stopping Kobe, but I think for the most part, Ben and Rasheed, all of those guys are doing a good job talking behind me and letting me know where the help is coming from and stuff like that. I've really been depending on them guys to get me help and when he do take outside shots, just contest him.

Q: Don't you get tired? I mean, you're running after Kobe the whole game, and running for the breaks and shooting 3-pointers. What's your energy like during the game?

Prince: Definitely I was a little tired today. But, I mean, you know, this is the Finals. You've got to fight through that. We've come a long way, so, you know, for the most part, everybody just got to go -- and especially coming from the West Coast, you know, the night before last, and we've had a long flight. For us to come out and respond the way we did today was good, and we've got a big game coming on Sunday because they are going to come out and playing tougher than they did tonight.

Q: Can you talk about how dominant the starting backcourt was, Rip and Chauncey, 50 points together?

Prince: For the most part, when those guys play like that, you know, we pretty much are a great basketball team. The guys, we try to get Chauncey and Rip moving, get them some shots and they are able to knock them down. We tried to get the ball inside to Rasheed a couple of times, and he got two quick fouls early on, got him out of the game, so we try to get Rasheed the ball. Once he got in foul trouble, we try to go to Rip and Chauncey, which we've been doing all year long and they definitely responded tonight.

Q: Have you done enough study of Kobe to know when the ball fake is coming and when he is actually shooting? That seems to be one of the problem when people defend him.

Prince: For the most part, he has so many different moves. He just got to stay on the ground. For the most part by me being long and having a long wingspan, I think if I do stay down and contest it, you know, if he makes it, that's a tough shot. So just got to stay on the ground because he's just got so many different moves.

Q: Being from L.A., did you grow up rooting for the Lakers, and what is it like playing against your hometown team? Is there any emotional things on your part or more motivation on your part?

Prince: You know, definitely it's been a fun experience just to get to the Finals, most importantly, but second of all, playing against the Lakers is unbelievable. Definitely my hometown and I was a big-time Laker fan growing up. Magic Johnson was definitely my idol. You know, when the later part of the team came, Kobe was my idol. It's definitely an opportunity to play against these guys and for the most part, you know, just being here for the Finals is a great experience. So definitely got to cherish this and definitely don't take it for granted because you don't know if you'll be back.

Q: Coach Jackson said maybe Kobe was having some problems with the look of the crowd and the background here at the Palace. Have you noticed anything like that happening to opposing guards or players?

Prince: Definitely, I don't know, I've never experienced, you know, the crowd bothering me or anything like that.

For the most part in Game 1 and Game 2, he took 27 shots, so he was a lot more aggressive and I think tonight 12 or 13 shots. He's trying to get his teammates the ball and stuff like that, so for the most part, you've got to look for a different Kobe in Game 4 as far as shooting the ball a lot more and definitely trying to get the ball in the basket.

BEN WALLACE

Q: Do you think what happened in Game 2 motivated you for tonight?

Wallace: I told you Game 2 wasn’t going to bother us. We were just anxious to get back out there because we let the game slip away in Game 2.

Q: What happened at the beginning of the game?

Wallace: We came out with a lot of energy tonight, and we were able to play our style of basketball from start to finish. We were able to get a nice little run to start, and that got the crowd excited. When this crowd gets excited, it motivates us.

Q: How good were the Pistons defensively?

Wallace: We were decent. I think there are still areas where we need to get better. I think they penetrate and get to the paint a little too easy. We have to force them to shoot over the top more, and, for the most part, we did pretty good.

Q: How did you defend Kobe so effectively tonight?

Wallace: I think that is the type of effort we had against him in Game 1. In Game 2, towards the end of the game, we allowed Kobe to get into the middle of the court, and when he can get into the middle, it doesn’t matter what kind of defense you are playing. He will break it down. Tonight, we were able to keep him out of there and force him to shoot jump shots.

Q: How do you respond to people saying it is bad offense, not good defense?

Wallace: We are just going to let them talk. There is nothing we can really do about that. We are still going to go out and play our game. Bad offense or good defense, we are still going to go out there and play hard for 48 minutes and give ourselves every opportunity to win the game.

Q: Did Coach Larry Brown coach differently this game?

Wallace: Coach Brown did the same job in all three games. I think Coach Brown took a lot of heat for Game 2, but he didn’t shoot any shots, miss any shots or turn the ball over. He wasn’t out on the floor to make plays or foul Shaq or foul Kobe. I think he did the same job, and I think all the heat he had to take was unfair.

Q: How big have Rip Hamilton and Chauncey Billups been?

Wallace: They have been big for us all year. Once we get them going, we are a tough team to beat. As long as we keep our guards playing like that and playing hard on the defensive end, good things will happen to this team.

Q: How confident are you that you could have been up 3-0 but are still 2-1?

Wallace: We are just taking it game by game and going out there and playing hard. We are playing our style of basketball, and we give ourselves every opportunity to win the game.

Q: How do you feel about the two-day break?

Wallace: If you had to go out there and guard Shaq for 40-plus minutes, you’d like the two-day layoff, too.

Q: How was the crowd tonight?

Wallace: The crowd got involved in the game early. This crowd was big for us tonight all night from start to finish. All season they have been coming out here and supporting us. I just cannot say enough about this crowd.

RASHEED WALLACE

Q: What did Larry Brown say after Game 2?

Wallace: He didn’t have to say too much, because we were hungry.

Q: What did he say on the floor tonight?

Wallace: Stay together. Don’t let that destroy what we try to do because we got that loss in L.A. That was a good shot Kobe hit – can’t take that away from him.

Q: You weren’t lying when you said you weren’t afraid of the Lakers.

Wallace: They’re human. They bleed just like us.

Q: Talk about that 8-0 run.

Wallace: That was something we needed. That was pure adrenaline right there.

Q: How do you handle the situation now that you’re so close, but yet so far?

Wallace: Take one game at a time. We’re not looking at the championship here. We’re looking at Sunday and we know they’re going to make some adjustments, so we’re going to have to come out and play basketball like we’ve been doing.

Q: Talk about the defense on Kobe Bryant.

Wallace: Tayshaun did a good job. He made Kobe take some tough shots and he hit some tough shots.