The only question now is: Have the Pistons totally sapped the Sixers' spirit?

Trailing by 14 points after the first quarter, the Sixers never cut the lead under double digits the rest of the way last night in a 98-81 loss at the Palace of Auburn Hills.

Detroit leads the best-of-seven series by three games to two and can close it out tomorrow at the Wachovia Center. Plenty of tickets remain, and it looks as if there is more than enough room on that once-crowded Sixers bandwagon.

"They have not sapped our spirit," Sixers coach Maurice Cheeks insisted. "They sap our spirit when it is four wins. They haven't yet."

But . . .

"When you lose the fourth and fifth games, certainly the spirit is down at that moment, but then we regroup," Cheeks said.

It will take a lot of regrouping to stall the Pistons' momentum.

To loosen up his teammates, Sixers center Samuel Dalembert got a Mohawk haircut yesterday. Little did he realize that his entire team would be clipped.

Detroit jumped out to a 35-21 first-quarter lead, and the Sixers never cut the deficit under double figures the rest of the game.

The contest featured the return of Andre Iguodala from the slumping regions, but also brought back Detroit's Chauncey Billups from that same territory.

Iguodala had shot 22.4 percent in the first four games, and Billups was shooting 28.6 percent.

Both led their teams in scoring with 21 points. Iguodala shot 8 for 13, while Billups was 7 for 14. In the first quarter, Billups set the tone by scoring 14 points, shooting 5 for 6 from the field and 2 for 2 from beyond the arc.

"Chauncey was very focused on getting the team off to a good start," Cheeks said.

Billups had a simpler explanation.

"Guys started hitting shots and I started hitting shots," he said.

That gave everyone confidence among the Pistons, as evidenced by their balanced scoring. Richard Hamilton scored 20 points, while Rasheed Wallace scored 19 and Sixers-killer Tayshaun Prince added 17.

Early in the third quarter, the Sixers cut the lead to 54-44, but Detroit went on a 14-4 run to put the game away.

Dalembert's performance wasn't much better than his 'do. He had four points and six rebounds. Meanwhile, Wallace, his counterpart, added six rebounds and six points to his scoring effort.

Wallace was swatting so many shots that the Sixers became gun-shy going to the basket and relied on jump shots. On this night, that wasn't the best of strategies.

Throughout the series, the Pistons have given the impression that they have flipped the intensity meter on and off at their discretion, a point not disputed by Wallace.

"At some points we have been lackadaisical," he said. "That doesn't take anything away from the Sixers' playing hard all the time."

Playing hard and playing well are two different things. And since being outscored by 57-38 in the second half of Sunday's 93-84 loss, the Sixers have not found any rhythm on offense or defense.

"They picked us apart," said Willie Green, who scored eight points.

Andre Miller struggled, shooting 5 for 17 and scoring 13 points. Other than Iguodala, the only other Sixer who distinguished himself was Lou Williams, who had 16 points, making six of nine shots.

None of the Sixers was in the best of spirits, but under the guidance of Cheeks, they haven't lost their confidence.

After leaving his postgame news conference, Cheeks told the assembled reporters, "See you here back for Game 7."

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