AUBURN HILLS, MICH. ? One shot drastically has changed the dynamics of the NBA Finals. The question now for the Detroit Pistons is whether they’ll let it affect them in Game 3 the way it did in overtime of Game 2.

Distraught and disgusted with themselves after their heartbreaking defeat, the Pistons boarded a plane and headed home immediately after Tuesday night’s game.

But instead of returning to Motown Madness with a 2-0 lead and a superb chance to pull off one of the most stunning upsets in league history, they’re tied 1-1 and wondering how they let a six-point lead slip away in the final 40 seconds.

The most pertinent question was why the Pistons didn’t foul someone before Kobe Bryant hit a three-pointer with 2.1 seconds remaining to send the game to overtime. A foul would have given the Lakers two free throws when they needed three points to tie, and the Pistons had plenty of opportunities to commit one before Bryant launched his shot.

“We don’t foul in a situation like that,” coach Larry Brown said, explaining that he feared a four-point play. “I thought about it. We talked about if they threw it inside, yeah, when Shaq gets it, put him on the line. But I don’t want to take a chance like that.”

Brown now has to live with the consequences of that decision and hope it doesn’t ultimately cost him a chance for his first championship as an NBA head coach.

One series-altering shot can sap the life out of a team, as evidenced by what happened to the San Antonio Spurs in the second round: Derek Fisher’s Game 5 buzzer-beater swung the momentum the Lakers’ way, and they finished off the Spurs in six games.

“We’ll see,” Bryant said. “The difference there was we were coming home. Now we’re going on the road.”

Judging by what the Pistons had to say after Game 2, the mental hurdle will be a significant obstacle to overcome.

“It’s devastating,” Tayshaun Prince said.

Detroit's Chauncey Billups, center, stands dejectedly with teammates during the closing seconds of the Pistons' overtime loss to the L.A. Lakers on Tuesday in Los Angeles. The NBA Finals, tied at 1 game apiece, resume tonight in Auburn Hills, Mich.

“You know, we’re crushed,” Brown said. “I mean, shoot, that was — we had a winnable game. And everybody in that locker room is down. But we lost in triple overtime to New Jersey (in the second round) and had to go there and win Games 6 and 7. We’ll talk about that. We’ve just got to bounce back.”

Games 3, 4 and 5 will be played at The Palace before a sellout crowd that has waited almost a decade and a half for its team to make it to this stage. The makeup of the crowd will be quite different from the star-studded audience at Staples Center that stayed relatively quiet until Bryant hit his shot.

In Game 6 of the Eastern Conference finals, the rapper Uncle Kracker sang the national anthem, and Kid Rock raced around the court during a timeout late in the fourth quarter waving a huge Pistons flag.

Game 3 is today, Game 4 is Sunday and Game 5 is Tuesday before the series returns to Los Angeles — unless one of the teams wins all three games, something a home team never has done since the NBA switched to a 2-3-2 finals format in 1985.

Meanwhile, the Lakers are nursing injuries to a couple of key players. Fisher is hobbling because of a sore right knee and has trouble driving the lane or guarding the most athletic opponents.

Karl Malone sprained the medial collateral ligament in his right knee early in Game 2 but played 39 minutes. He would not commit Wednesday to playing in Game 3, but Jackson said he expected to have him in the lineup — perhaps wearing a knee brace.

“If I suit up, I’m going to play,” Malone said. “I want to do the smart thing.”

The things that worked for Los Angeles in Game 2 — including a significant role for rookie Luke Walton — should remain part of the gameplan against an opponent that’s giving the Lakers far more trouble than many anticipated.

The first two games exposed the Pistons’ matchup advantages at point guard and power forward, with Chauncey Billups and Rasheed Wallace outplaying the Lakers’ two former superstars, Gary Payton and Malone.

“It’s not a good feeling for me,” said Payton, who was outscored 27-2 by Billups in Game 2. “Right now I don’t have a rhythm, I don’t have my confidence.”

Walton, after sitting out all of Game 1, had a team-high eight assists while playing 27 minutes off the bench — the most of any Los Angeles reserve. Coach Phil Jackson said Walton’s role in Game 3 would depend in large part on how Devean George was playing.

If O’Neal had the final say, Walton would probably start.

“It amazes me how he can give me the ball, and guys that have been playing with me for four, five, six years can’t get me the ball,” said O’Neal, who scored 34 and 29 points in the first two games to break Michael Jordan’s record of 20 consecutive finals games with at least 25 points.