The next challenge for the Sixers is to avoid disappearing.

Talk about cutting-edge stuff. Detroit scalped the 76ers, 98-81, giving the Pistons a 3-2 lead in their best-of-seven first-round playoff series and propelling them within one victory of a seventh straight berth in the second round, this time against the Orlando Magic.

Dalembert let a barber friend of teammate Willie Green cut his hair, including inscribing "SD" on one side of his head and "LJ" on the other.

Dalembert first said "SD" represented his initials; later, he said it meant "Strong Defense." He said "LJ" was a personal thing, for a loved one, but would not elaborate.

"I actually told Mo [Sixers coach Maurice Cheeks] that should be a team fine to let him come in here like that," the Pistons' Rasheed Wallace said. "A team fine, for sure."

The Pistons, showing many of the attributes that made them the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference, cut off virtually all of the Sixers' options.

In the first four games, they totally neutralized Andre Iguodala, leaving the Sixers' regular-season leading scorer shooting 11-for-49 from the floor, giving him precious little space in which to operate. What went less noticed was that Andre Miller, the Sixers' point guard and most valuable player, managed six assists in Game 1, then had a total of nine in the next three. He had three last night. He made his first shot and missed his next nine en route to an ineffectual 5-for-17.

The "Pistons Drumline" wasn't just a between-periods entertainment diversion; the Pistons drummed the Sixers all night.

"I've been saying it the whole series, [the Pistons are] a team that has been in these situations before," Cheeks said. "They understand how to take advantage of certain things. It was very evident Chauncey [Billups] understands these situations, that Rip [Hamilton] understands . . . They've been in situations where there are pivotal games and that they need to go out and win them."

The Pistons can win the series tomorrow night in the Wachovia Center. The Sixers will be out to force a Game 7 Saturday in the Palace of Auburn Hills.

"I think that we play well with our backs against the wall," Miller said. "They did what they were supposed to do to protect their home court and we need to do the same thing."

Cheeks, though, insisted that the Pistons have not taken away the Sixers' spirit.

"They'll zap my spirit, our spirit, when they have four wins," Cheeks said. "[But] when you lose Game 4 and Game 5, your spirit can be down at the moment. Then you regroup."

Cheeks also has been saying from the start that, as far as his team is concerned, it's not all about the struggles of Iguodala. It's about everyone. On this night, even though Iguodala showed some signs of life with 21 points, six assists, five rebounds and three steals, none of his teammates offered anything of consequence. Dalembert, for one, had only four points.

Cheeks has talked several times about the value of the experience for his young team, being able to take a hit and responding. The thing is, this was the third hit they took, and it was a big one. The Pistons' backcourt, for example, was the most effective it has been in the series. Billups, who had been 12-for-42 coming in, scored 21 points on 7-for-14 shooting, knocking down three three-pointers and mixing in 12 assists. Hamilton scored 20 points on 10-for-17 shooting.

And then there was Wallace, scoring 19 points, taking six rebounds and blocking six shots. And on and on. Tayshaun Prince, adding 17 points; Jason Maxiell, starting for the second game in place of Antonio McDyess, sweeping a game-high 11 rebounds. The Pistons led by as many as 26. The Sixers' only lead was at 2-0.

"That Game 6 [tomorrow], that's something we've definitely got to get," Wallace said. "I don't think they're going to lay down. It's do-or-die for them. It's not going to be a cakewalk. They're not going to roll over."

The Pistons' game seems to come and go. But they can do that and win 59 games during the season, the second-highest total in the league. The Sixers, of course, don't have that luxury.

"At some points we're being lackadaisical," Wallace said. "Sometimes we match that challenge; sometimes we don't. The two games we lost, they played harder than us. The three we've won, we played harder than them. There's definitely going to be a whole lot of pushing and shoving and elbows being thrown and all that stuff [tomorrow] . . .

"I know Mo and [assistant] Jimmy Lynam and those guys; they'll come up with something. That's a lot of basketball knowledge they have over there. Our thing is, when we see them do that, whatever they come up with, we've just got to make changes."

Whether there are any meaningful changes the Sixers can make remains to be seen. Down 3-2, they are - you should pardon the expression - cutting it close. *