Detroit ? The Detroit Pistons had to get past more than just the Miami Heat to have a chance to defend their title in the NBA Finals.

They had to respond to reports and rumors about coach Larry Brown’s next move; deal with his two health-related absences; experience one of the worst brawls in U.S. sports history and the fallout from it; and rise above a tendency to be complacent.

“It’s been a crazy season,” said Chauncey Billups, the MVP of last year’s finals.

Detroit extended its season – and Brown’s Hall of Fame career – with an 88-82 victory over the Heat on Monday night in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference finals.

In a matchup of the past two champions, the Pistons will face the San Antonio Spurs in Game 1 of the NBA Finals on Thursday night.

“After all the things that have transpired over the year, it’s all worth it,” Brown said.

The Pistons did not practice Tuesday and were to travel that night to San Antonio, which will also host Game 2 and, if necessary, Games 6 and 7.

As much as they were pushed by Miami, reserve forward Antonio McDyess expects to the Pistons to be tested even more by the Spurs.

“They’re better defensively, and they have a lot more scorers because all five guys can score,” McDyess said. “It’s going to be tough.”

The Pistons had to be tough-minded to deflect distractions created by their mercurial coach, who was slow to shoot down the belief during the season that he would leave this summer to coach the New York Knicks.

During the playoffs, the Cleveland Cavaliers asked for permission to speak with Brown about being their president of basketball operations, and Brown was willing to talk with them.

“Everybody has speculations,” guard Richard Hamilton said. “But the one thing with us is we know that we have a great group of guys in our locker room, we have a great coaching staff and you really can’t believe what people say outside of that.”

Brown repeatedly has said – for months – if he’s healthy enough to coach next year, he wants to continue leading the Pistons after turning 65 this fall.

“We’ve just got good guys in that locker room that have a lot of pride, and I think character has a way of handling obstacles and adversity,” Brown said. “That’s what this team is about.”

The Pistons were associated, for much of the season, with the infamous melee on Nov. 19 with their fans and the Indiana Pacers. The ugly series of events were replayed on television, written about in newspapers and talked about on the radio so much that the team became annoyed by the story that wouldn’t go away.

Late Monday night in Miami, Hamilton said it was all worth it.

“This is very rewarding,” he said.