AUBURN HILLS, MICH. ? The battles between Tim Duncan and Rasheed Wallace date to their days on opposite ends of Tobacco Road, when Wake Forest played North Carolina and the two young big men were just starting down the path that has led them to these NBA Finals.

They faced each other for two years in college, and now for eight years in the pros, giving Wallace hundreds of minutes of firsthand experience learning the ins and outs of Duncan’s game. That inside information has helped the forward with the scruffier beard make the two-time finals MVP look almost ordinary.

“You can go back and look at the films. It was definitely some great battles,” Wallace recalled Friday while basking in the glow of another superior defensive effort on Duncan as the Detroit Pistons evened the NBA Finals against the San Antonio Spurs at two games apiece.

Duncan shot just 5-for-17 while being guarded at different times by Rasheed Wallace, Ben Wallace and Antonio McDyess. And Duncan’s inability to generate any kind of offensive consistency was one of the key factors in the Spurs getting trounced by 31 points against a team they handled with ease in Games 1 and 2.

Game 5 is Sunday night, the complexion of the series having done a complete flip-flop during the course a few days. The Pistons have ratcheted up the defensive intensity they’ve become known for, making the series more physical while routing the Spurs in two straight games.

San Antonio's Tim Duncan speaks with reporters. Duncan, who's been smothered by Detroit's defenders, met with the media Friday in Auburn Hills, Mich.

All the momentum has swung to the team whose versatility, length and intensity have overwhelmed the Spurs while making the prospect of a second straight championship in Detroit look a whole lot brighter than it did when the week began.

“We’re close. We’re licking our chops,” guard Richard Hamilton said.

Duncan is averaging only 18.0 points in the series, down from his overall playoff average of 23.5, and shooting 39 percent from the field – a drop of more than 11 percentage points from his career average.

The Pistons also have shut down Manu Ginobili, the standout of the first two games, while forcing the Spurs into clusters of turnovers that have produced game-turning easy shot opportunities.

Detroit committed only four miscues to San Antonio’s 18 in Game 4 on Thursday night while receiving double-figure scoring from seven players.

“I think there’s one difference: I think I’m really concerned about the way we’ve reacted to their physical play. That really bothers me, and I think that that’s got to be handled or we’re going to have a problem,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said.

Detroit’s defensive prowess has manifested itself in many ways, including backcourt ball pressure on San Antonio’s guards and Tayshaun Prince’s steering of Ginobili away from the lane.

But the biggest contribution, by far, has come from the three big men taking away the Spurs’ preference for generating their offense through Duncan.

“They are very different in what they do. They throw a lot of different bodies at you, and Ben and Rasheed and Dice do so many different things,” Duncan said. “They have been effective, so yes, it does affect me.

“But at the same time, I believe I’ve gotten a lot of shots that on a regular basis I would knock down, and I hope to do that in the next game.”

The primary defender has been Rasheed Wallace, who has the uncommon ability to anticipate Duncan’s next move and disrupt it, either by poking and slapping at the ball when Duncan has it at waist level, or by altering his shot trajectory with his long arms.

“He’s day, I’m night,” Wallace said. “The only thing we have in common is that emotional charge, we just show it in different ways.”