GETTING TO KNOW EACH OTHER AGAIN FRIENDSHIPS, RIVALRIES WILL RESURFACE.

Byline: Howard Beck Staff Writer

EL SEGUNDO - Derek Fisher's phone didn't ring late Tuesday night, though it was reasonable to think it would.

When the Detroit Pistons finished off the Indiana Pacers in the Eastern Conference finals, it set up the unlikeliest scenario Fisher ever dreamed of, but one that makes him smile just the same.

Fisher and Corliss Williamson, childhood friends and AAU teammates, will face off in the NBA Finals. Starting Sunday night, it's about bragging rights in Little Rock, Ark.

``I've always wanted it to happen,'' Fisher said Wednesday afternoon. ``Fortunately for me, in the last five years, I always felt like we would be in the Finals. So, I always kind of dreamed about playing the Pistons and Corliss.''

The Lakers and Pistons have not met in the Finals since 1989, when the Isiah Thomas-led Bad Boys swept Magic Johnson's Showtime crew, denying L.A. the three-peat that coach Pat Riley predicted.

But there is no shortage of familiarity as the rivalry renews after a 15-year break.

Rasheed Wallace, who joined Detroit in a midseason trade, faced the Lakers in the playoffs almost annually between 1996 and 2002 as the centerpiece of the Portland Trail Blazers.

As teenagers, Kobe Bryant and Detroit guard Richard Hamilton once faced off in the Pennsylvania state high school playoffs. Bryant's Lower Merion team eliminated the Hamilton-led Coatsville squad.

As if to send a subtle reminder across the time zones, Bryant conducted his interviews Wednesday wearing a Lower Merion Aces hat.

Lakers coach Phil Jackson once asked Detroit coach Larry Brown for a job, when Brown was coach of the New Jersey Nets. The two battled for the championship in 2001, when the Lakers beat Brown's Philadelphia 76ers.

Pistons reserve center Elden Campbell played eight-plus seasons for the Lakers until being sent in 1999 to the then-Charlotte Hornets in the Glen Rice trade.

Reserve guard Lindsey Hunter, the only Pistons player with a championship ring, won it while playing for the Lakers in 2002. A week later, he was traded to Toronto in the draft-day deal that brought Kareem Rush to L.A.

And then there is Fisher and Williamson. They have been close friends since they were 10-year-olds, squaring off on the playgrounds of Little Rock. Fisher now anchors the Lakers' bench. Williamson, a bruising small forward, is the leader of the Pistons' second unit.

It was an amazing bit of happenstance to consider as Fisher watched the final minutes of the East finals on Tuesday.

``There's no way that you can plan this kind of moment,'' he said with a chuckle. ``Two guys that grew up in Arkansas, both small-town guys, playing key off-the-bench roles for teams that could win NBA championships. That's not what you write down on your wish list as a kid.

``I've always wanted it to happen, and I'm glad for him that he's getting this opportunity. But at the same time, that's about all I am.''

Meaning he's not exactly pulling for Williamson to win his first championship.

``I can't let it be at our expense. Maybe another time, if we weren't here. But not now,'' Fisher said.

``His animosity for me will be higher than mine for him. Because he knows I already have three (rings),'' Fisher added. ``He's not going to be happy if I get a fourth one.''

The Lakers are indeed heavy favorites to win their fourth title in five years, though they will be facing perhaps the stingiest defense they've encountered to date. Detroit's opponents have averaged just 80.4 points per game in the playoffs.

Detroit's frontcourt is an assortment of long limbs, athleticism and hustle, most of it belonging to a Wallace of one sort or another. Rasheed Wallace, a go-to scorer in Portland, is a defense-first complementary player with the Pistons, averaging just 13 points per game in the playoffs. Ben Wallace, a two-time Defensive Player of the Year, is a monster rebounder and shot blocker despite standing just 6-foot-9.

Shaquille O'Neal will see a lot of Wallace tag-teams in the paint, although Detroit could opt to start one of its 7-footers, Campbell or Mehmet Okur, and shift everyone down a spot - Ben to power forward, Rasheed to small forward.

The Lakers have not played the Pistons since the Rasheed Wallace trade, so Brown hasn't had to expose his strategy yet for defending O'Neal.

From there, it will be all about the Pistons' grind-it-out mind-set against the Lakers' Hall-of-Fame scoring quartet of O'Neal, Bryant, Karl Malone and Gary Payton.

``It should be a fun series,'' O'Neal said. ``Fantastic Four against the Wallace guys.''

Howard Beck, [phone]

howard.beck(at)dailynews.com