The 76ers, using some misdirection offense, put Iguodala in different spots on the court in Game 4 of their playoff series with the Detroit Pistons, but somehow, almost mysteriously, Prince showed up in front of him.

If he hasn't been seeing Prince in his sleep, he will see him again tonight in Game 5 in Auburn Hills, Mich.

Prince, though, was merely at the head of a defensive web designed to keep Iguodala on the perimeter. When Iguodala looked past Prince, all he could see was Rasheed Wallace, Jason Maxiell or Antonio McDyess lurking in the lane. One of Iguodala's primary strengths is his ability to get to the basket, to draw fouls, to ignite his team with a thunderous dunk. The Pistons have taken that away.

"There are certain guys on whom [Prince] is able to use his length, and he's done that pretty well," Pistons coach Flip Saunders said. "I think Tay's had a phenomenal series."

Conventional wisdom says you can make statistics tell you whatever you want. But Iguodala's four-game totals against the Pistons, no matter how you might try and interpret them, paint a painfully accurate picture:

He is shooting 11-for-49 from the floor, including Sunday's 4-for-16 in a 93-84 loss that tied the best-of-seven series at 2-2. He was 3-for-25 in the first halves of the first three games, then was 0-for-8 in the second half Sunday, 0-for-6 in the fourth quarter.

What to do? It sounds so basic, it should be second nature for a player with four seasons of NBA experience, even if his playoff exposure has been limited to two grinding series with the Pistons.

"When that [second] defender comes, you've got to be able to pass to that defender's guy, whoever it is," Sixers coach Maurice Cheeks said yesterday. "He had a lot of open space [Sunday]; he just didn't make shots. He had a lot of balls that were in and out, but it was probably the best open space he has had the whole series. He was so close to having a 20-point game."

Cheeks is that way, forever positive, forever supportive. Iguodala, who prides himself on his ability to fill up various columns of the box score, had 12 points, six rebounds, five assists and two steals. The Pistons will happily take that. They will happily take his five turnovers, too. The box score says Iguodala got some things done. The Pistons say they got more done than he did.

"I tried to make him take jump shots," said Prince, who was also busy scoring a game-high 23 points on Sunday, draining 11 of 12 shots and coming up with four steals. "If he's making jump shots, I've got to accept it. Coach Cheeks put him in different situations, and I have to be ready, but when my 'bigs' communicate, I know which way to try to send him. He tries to see what's behind me."

Body language isn't often a good indicator, but it appears the Pistons have - at least a little - gotten into Iguodala's head, made him think about things rather than act and react.

"You don't play Detroit every night [during the regular season]," Iguodala said. "Their 'bigs' are not only very experienced, but they're smart; they understand their role. They've been together for a while. They just feed off each other so well."

Again, what to do?

"This is not just about Andre Iguodala," Cheeks said. "We've won and gotten to this position because of us as a basketball team, and not just relying on him to score 25 or 30 points. Our team has not been about one guy or two guys, and we're not going to start being about one guy now. We rely on one another."

In the heat of the postseason, though, it also helps to have somebody to lean on when necessary. The Pistons are one of those rare teams that can rely on different guys on different nights in major roles. The Sixers aren't as fortunate. The truth is, the Sixers need Iguodala, and they need him now. He doesn't have to be spectacular, he doesn't have to single-handedly carry them, but he has to be closer to the player he was during the season than the player he is now.

"He's got to figure it out himself," teammate Reggie Evans said. "Nobody knows Iguodala like Iguodala does. [As a teammate] you can only do so much; you can only say so much. I'd tell him to shoot more. Go to 20 attempts. Go to 25. You've got the power to do it. Whatever he wants to do, I'm cool with it. Take over."

Homecourt advantage?

The team winning Game 5 has won 116 of 139 series. *