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Since the first week of February, when their record dropped to 18-30, resiliency has highlighted the Sixers' last 3 months.
The ability to snap back and achieve when situations have looked hopeless is why this young team surprised most people by first making the playoffs and then playing even with the heavily favored Detroit Pistons through four games of the Eastern Conference quarterfinal.
But now, after Detroit routed them, 98-81, in a pivotal Game 5 last night at the Palace of Auburn Hills, the Sixers face a "close-out" game. Down, 3-2, the Sixers win tomorrow night's Game 6 at the Wachovia Center or call it a season.
It doesn't get any simpler than that.
"We've been resilient all year," Sixers coach Maurice Cheeks said after the Pistons took it to his young team from the opening tip to the final buzzer. "I don't expect that to change now. We have to rely on the things we've done before.
"We've got to do the things we've done all year."
The problem is that, with the way the Pistons have played since 3 1/2 minutes remained in the second quarter of Game 4, it might not matter what the Sixers come back with.
When the Sixers led, 45-31, on Sunday, Detroit didn't look experienced. It looked old. The Pistons seemed on the verge of surrendering to the younger, more aggressive Sixers.
Since then, Detroit has outscored the Sixers, 160-120, and went from looking as if it would fall into a 3-1 deficit to being a win away from advancing to the second round.
Sometimes, the Pistons must think they can turn things on and off at will, but for the last six quarters of this series, the switch has been locked on.
"I would say at some point we've been lackadaisical," said Pistons forward Rasheed Wallace, who had 19 points and six blocked shots. "That's not to take anything way from the Sixers, because they play hard the whole time.
"The games they've beat us, they've played harder than us. The games we've won, we've matched them in effort. We are going to go there Thursday with intentions of closing this series out. We know they are going to play hard and scrap it out, because it's do or die for them."
The series was always about experience vs. youth.
At this point, the Pistons, knowing that Orlando is resting and waiting for the next round after ousting Toronto, can't take the Sixers lightly and won't take anything for granted.
Just as Detroit knew the importance of seizing control of Game 5 from the outset, the Pistons know they can't loosen their grip around the Sixers' throats simply because they would host Game 7 Saturday.
You expect them to come out tomorrow zeroed in on closing out these gritty Sixers.
"I've been saying the whole series that [Detroit] is a team that knows how to take advantage of certain things," Cheeks said. "I don't know if they've been 2-2 before, but they know pivotal situations and when they have to go out and win them.
"The fourth game was obviously big for us. The comeback for them in the second half just carried over."
Four Detroit starters - Wallace, Chauncey Billups, Richard Hamilton and Tayshaun Prince - have played in 100 playoff games each.
Billups, the savvy veteran point guard who had 21 points and 12 assists, seized control of the game from the opening tip, as Detroit raced to a 28-12 lead and never let the Sixers even consider pulling off an upset.
"We knew it was going to be in our building, our own fans," Billups said. "We just took care of business from the jump ball. We knew coming into this game tied two up, it's obviously the biggest game of the series. We knew Game 6 was going to be an elimination game either way and we wanted to be on the upper hand of that."
Right now, it looks as if the Pistons have a pretty big fist, except that the Sixers have been counted out over and over this season, only to find another way to get back up.
Do they have one more in them?
"The series is not over until someone gets four wins," Cheeks said. "That's the essence of it right now. We've got to play a little better, obviously.
"We can be down at the moment, but we've got to regroup. [The Pistons] haven't zapped our spirit. They will zap our spirit when they get four wins." *
Send e-mail to smallwj@phillynews.com.
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