Of all the tricks Lenny Wilkens and his staff could have pulled out of the bag, no one saw this one coming.

But because of their brazen move to play more zone defence in half a game than they have in a season, the Toronto Raptor coaches now get a chance to take their team where few expected it to go: The second round of the NBA playoffs.

Morris Peterson was doing what he's seen countless other Raptors do, what every kid who dreams of playing in the NBA imagines doing: Strutting down the court, chin up, arms in the air, saying oh, yeah. Asking the crowd for a little love.

There were 37 seconds left on the clock. The Pistons were down by six.

It was not the right time. And Chris Childs did not think Peterson was in the right place. The angry guard pushed through a crowd to get to the swingman.

The team that thrived on its suffocating defence is suddenly dying a slow death without it.

Allowing the Raptors to dominate in the paint and shoot 53.3 per cent in the final quarter, the Pistons chartered back to Detroit late last night with their offensive game in disarray and their defence in tatters after suffering an 89-83 loss, their second in a row at the Air Canada Centre.

AT ONE POINT early in this NBA playoff series, when the Raptors were down two games to the Detroit Pistons ? and the temptation now is to wonder how ? Keon Clark had performed an extremely rare trick.

He was both 6 feet 11 inches tall and yet partly invisible. He's not a robust guy ? he might need to run around in the shower to get wet ? but, geez, where did he and all his potential free-agent riches go?

Wherever they went, they're back now. Clark was the proud possessor of an often thunderous 19 points and 16 rebounds, both playoff career highs, plus a critical fourth-quarter blocked shot on Corliss Williamson, in last night's 89-83 get-even session against the confused and confusing Pistons at the Air Canada Centre.

SO HERE we are, headed to a deciding game and all the pressure and heat that go with it.

But enough about the national anthems. What's going on here in the arena, where it matters? Where's the hate? Whatever happened to elbows, hacks, trips, runs from behind? Where have all the glowers gone ? not to mention the stare-downs, the smak, the gobs and the wild-eyed gawks?

They sure ain't here. Heck, when you talk about taking out Jerry Stackhouse, who'd have thought he'd be doing it himself?

Somebody ought to tell these Raptors they're in the playoffs. While their brave hockey brethren and the dastardly Islanders (or is it the other way around?) perform Slapshot III, this series with the Pistons is unfolding with all the rancour of Pledge Week on TVO.

Morris Peterson says thanks for the compliment, even though it wasn't one.

When told that Detroit's Jerry Stackhouse called him a "big-time flopper" for his on-court acting techniques, the second-year Toronto Raptor shrugged it off.

"I guess when people are talking about you, you're doing something right," said Peterson.

Detroit guard Jon Barry hit the three-pointer and then the other shoe fell, literally.

Assessed a technical foul after pulling the Pistons to within five points, 76-71, with 4:28 left to play in the fourth quarter last night, Barry hurriedly rushed toward the official and handed him the ball, then rushed to the scorer's table to lace up his shoe that had come off.

"I didn't say a word to him," insisted Barry. "My shoe was off and I ran over to him to give him the ball quickly because I knew they wouldn't give me a timeout to get my shoe on and I didn't want to burn one of our team timeouts.

Get ready for the Showdown in Motown.

With the Raptors refusing to die, they have set the stage for a winner-take-all matchup in their opening-round playoff battle against the Detroit Pistons.

What began as a best-of-five series has been whittled to a best-of-one meeting following the Raptors' 89-83 win in Game 4 of their Eastern Conference quarter-final last night at the Air Canada Centre

With seconds on the board and the Raptors taking a stranglehold on the Detroit Pistons, Toronto guard Chris Childs wrapped his arms around teammate Morris Peterson.

A joyous embrace? Not quite. With the fans at the Air Canada Centre screaming in celebration, second-year forward Peterson uncharacteristically pumped his arms in the air as he walked toward the bench.

It was at that point Childs put his arms around him -- and swung the man they call Mo Pete back toward the play. The point was obvious: The game's not over.

WHATEVER THE JOB JYD WILL GET IT DONE: For the third game in a row, Jerome Williams found himself coming off the bench last night at the Air Canada Centre.

Williams has played at small forward, power forward, has started and been used as a reserve during his second season as a Raptor.

No matter his position or the amount of minutes he gets, Williams never complains.

In Game 1 of the Raptors' first-round series against the Detroit Pistons, Williams started at small forward, but came off the bench for Game 2 when the Raptors went with Chris Childs at point guard as an additional scoring option.