AUBURN HILLS, MICH. ? Coming off the bench for the Detroit Pistons in the Eastern Conference finals is Antonio McDyess, only 30, yet a half-decade removed from a time when he was considered the prototypical athletic power forward that every team wanted to have.

McDyess’ career was interrupted at its peak by three knee surgeries, and he finally has come to grips with the fact that he’ll never regain the explosiveness he once took for granted.

“It was kind of hard to swallow in the beginning, definitely. But if it wasn’t for my injury I wouldn’t be here competing in the Eastern Conference finals,” McDyess said Friday. “So I look at it now and feel it was a good thing. It gave me an opportunity to play with the world champions.”

The former All-Star and Olympian joined the Pistons as a free agent last summer after spending the 2003-04 season with New York and Phoenix. This is the farthest the 10-year veteran ever has been in the postseason.

Nobody placed too much blame on McDyess after he managed only four points in 17 minutes of Detroit’s Game 2 loss to the Miami Heat, which evened the series at 1-1. Game 3 is Sunday night.

But there was a time not too long ago when that type of paltry production from McDyess would have been viewed as a monumental letdown.

After winning a gold medal for the United States in 2000 in Sydney, McDyess averaged 20.8 points the next season for Denver. Knee surgery limited him to 10 games in 2001-02, and a fractured kneecap that required two surgeries kept him out for the entire 2002-03 season and the start of the ’03-’04 season.

The Knicks dealt him to Phoenix last season, and he limped through the final 24 games for the Suns before entering free agency wondering whether anyone would still want him.

“That was the worst part if my career, getting traded and still hurting,” McDyess said.

McDyess signed with the Pistons to help them replace the departed Corliss Williamson and Mehmet Okur, and his knee made it through 77 games without any trouble.

He said the pain and discomfort were gone, but he still felt somewhat ill at ease, knowing his knee didn’t have the strength he’d like it to have.