LAKERS LOOK AHEAD: IN FINALS, POINTS WILL BE TOUGH PACERS, PISTONS ARE AMONG LEAGUE'S BEST DEFENSIVEL TEAMS.

Byline: Ross Siler Staff Writer

Only nine days ago, the Lakers matched their franchise record for fewest points ever in a playoff game, shooting 36 percent in a listless 89-71 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves in Game 2 of the Western Conference finals.

What a difference a week makes: Now that total might serve as a magic number for the Lakers in the NBA Finals. The Lakers are guaranteed of playing one of the NBA's two top defensive teams in either the Detroit Pistons or Indiana Pacers. Detroit holds a 3-2 lead in the Eastern Conference finals with Game 6 tonight in Auburn Hills, Mich.

Should Detroit win and eliminate the Pacers, the Lakers would open the NBA Finals on Sunday at Staples Center and have home-court advantage. The Pacers would have home-court advantage should they advance on the basis of the better regular-season record.

At the very least, though, the Lakers could point to one fact in their favor Monday night: The Western Conference champion has won the past five NBA championships.

The Lakers split with both teams in the regular season, losing on the road and winning at home. But the Lakers have not faced the Pistons since they acquired Rasheed Wallace from Atlanta at the Feb. 19 trade deadline.

With Wallace, Detroit closed the regular season 20-6. They are now 31-12 with him counting the playoffs.

By another measure, the Pistons ranked among the NBA's best-ever defensive teams with Wallace during the season's second half. Detroit set a league record by holding opposing teams to fewer than 70 points in five consecutive games.

In their past two playoff series, the Pistons once held the New Jersey Nets to 56 points and kept the Pacers to 65 in Sunday's Game 5. Opposing teams are shooting just 38.7 percent against them in the postseason.

``They're the master of holding teams around that 70 mark,'' Rick Fox said. ``We don't know who we'll play, but we know both teams are pretty good defensively.''

Should the Lakers face Detroit, Karl Malone would get yet another demanding defensive assignment in Wallace. Malone took turns against Houston's Yao Ming in the first round, San Antonio's Tim Duncan in the second and Minnesota's Kevin Garnett in the conference finals.

The Lakers have not played Detroit in the playoffs since the 1989 NBA Finals, a 4-0 sweep by the Pistons. A Lakers-Pacers series would be a rematch of the 2000 Finals, which the Lakers won in six games, though 38-year-old Reggie Miller is the lone holdover in Indiana's starting lineup.

The Lakers and Pistons twice played in a four-day stretch in November, one of the few times the Lakers were at full strength. The Pistons won 106-96 at The Palace as Mehmet Okur, Bob Sura and Corliss Williamson all scored in double figures off the bench.

At Staples Center, the Lakers posted a 94-89 victory. But Detroit point guard Chauncey Billups was masterful in both games, averaging 26.5 points and 6.5 assists.

More recently, the Pistons have found a resurgent scorer in shooting guard Richard Hamilton, who has averaged 24.2 points against the Pacers, including striking for 33 on Sunday night.

``It still could go seven (games),'' Fox said of the series. ``If it's a turns into a defensive game (tonight), I'd say Detroit will win, and if that's the case, we get home-court and that's got to be exciting.''

As Fox put it, the Pacers are on their ``last limbs,'' with Jermaine O'Neal and Jamal Tinsley both battling injuries. Indiana lost 99-77 to the Lakers in November and won 85-72 in February - a game in which the Lakers scored 10 points in the first half but were absent Shaquille O'Neal, Kobe Bryant and Malone.

Ross Siler, [phone]

ross.siler(at)dailynews.com

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Kareem Rush, left, Kobe Bryant and the rest of the Lakers won't have it easy offensively against either Indiana or Detroit in the Finals.

Mark J. Terrill/Associated Press