AUBURN HILLS – When in doubt, Detroit coach Larry Brown always refers to the teachings of Dean Smith. Never fails. Look at last night.

“My old coach used to tell me you rebound the ball, you have a chance to win,” Brown said. “We put things on the board: ‘Play hard, play together, play smart, have fun and rebound the ball.’ You don’t need to look at tape every minute. That’s the game, especially against this [Nets] team with as many finishers as they have and as well as they run the break.”

So the Pistons played hard, together, smart, had fun but more than anything, they rebounded the ball – to a 48-29 landslide total. And, in truth, that was the game.

“We shot 27 percent,” Kenyon Martin said. “So there were a lot of rebounds.”

Unfortunately, the Pistons got most of them. Ben Wallace set the early tone by grabbing six in the first quarter. Detroit crashed the glass and by halftime, held a laughable 25-10 edge with the Nets claiming one offensive board.

“If you don’t box these guys out, we can’t do what we do best and that’s get out and run,” said Jason Kidd, who finished as the Nets’ top boarder with seven.

The Nets had 19 fast break points – normally a decent total – but in this game, it hardly mattered or was even noticed. The Pistons’ rebounding helped rule the night. Just like coach Smith said it should.

The Pistons possess one of the game’s best rebounders in Wallace, who excels on the offensive glass. “Definitely, I’ve got to keep him off the offensive glass. He’s one of the best rebounders in the league,” said Net Jason Collins, who lasted only two minutes before going to the bench with foul trouble.