AUBURN HILLS, Mich. – It’s awfully hard to win basketball games when your shots count for two points and the opponent’s count for three. That’s what the Detroit Pistons are learning in the NBA Finals, as they trail three games to two despite dominating most facets of the game.

Fittingly, it was a 3-pointer that won it for the Spurs at the end of Sunday’s crucial Game 5. For those who were too busy watching the rescue of Katie Holmes to bother watching basketball, Robert Horry’s last-second 3-pointer in overtime gave San Antonio a 96-95 win over Detroit, capping a magnificent 21-point performance by the veteran forward.

Horry’s heroics have garnered most of the attention in the wake of Game 5,and deservedly so. “That was probably the greatest performance I’ve ever been a part of,” said teammate Tim Duncan. The taciturn star then launched into a rare display of humor.

“Rob just hangs out the entire game,” said Duncan. “He does it all season long, he doesn’t do anything. He doesn’t feel like playing. He shows up sometimes, and then you put him in the fourth quarter in a big game, whether it be regular season or the playoffs, and he’s like, ‘Okay, it’s time to play now. I’ve been hanging out the entire season.'” Duncan said all this while an amused Horry was waiting to come to the podium and talk to the press.

Horry’s last-second shot was one of five 3-pointers the veteran forward made, and overall the Spurs hit as many trifectas in Game 5 (eight) as Detroit has the entire series. San Antonio shot 8-for-20 on 3-pointers Sunday, while the Pistons made only 2-of-8.

That 18-point advantage allowed San Antonio to overcome huge errors in other areas. They gave away nine points at the free-throw line, for instance, including a miserable 1-for-7 in the fourth quarter by Duncan. They also survived an onslaught of impossible shots by the Pistons in the fourth quarter, including several tough fadeaways by Chauncey Billups.

That was the case in San Antonio’s other two wins, as well. In Games 1 and 2, the Spurs scored 13 fewer 2-point baskets than Detroit but dominated the 3-point category, 15-1. In fact, the Spurs have had more turnovers in every game and fewer two-point baskets in all but one, yet hold a 3-2 lead in the series thanks to their superior long-range shooting.

By contrast, Detroit’s 3-point production is lacking in both quantity and quality. The Pistons have attempted 44 in the series, or nearly nine a game. By way of comparison, the worst teams in the regular season averaged above 10. Worse, Detroit has been woefully inaccurate on those attempts, hitting only 18.2%.

The 3-pointers are the big story because they’re the only thing keeping us from a second straight Pistons upset in the Finals. Detroit has put up a much better fight than many expected, and one can argue it is they who should be winning the series 3-2. The Pistons have outscored San Antonio by 11 points over the five games, including a humiliating 31-point defeat of the Spurs in Game 4. Overall, Detroit has played much better in this series than it did in the Eastern Conference finals against Miami, even though the Pistons won that series and are likely to lose this one.

But if Game 5 is the one that ends up costing them their championship belts, two plays will loom large in the Pistons’ minds. The biggest would be Rasheed Wallace’s decision to double-team Manu Ginobili in the corner on San Antonio’s last possession, which left Horry wide open from the 3-point line to rip Detroit’s heart out. Coach Larry Brown confirmed after the game that he hadn’t called the double-team, but Wallace ad-libbed for reasons that aren’t entirely apparent.

Detroit also has to wonder about its last try to regain the lead after Horry’s shot. Instead of running a play for Billups, or allowing Wallace to try to redeem himself, the Pistons posted up Richard Hamilton against Tony Parker. Theoretically, this might seem to work since Hamilton is five inches taller.

But Hamilton is a very poor post player – he gets his points by moving away from the ball and shooting mid-range jumpers. At just 193 pounds, he is easily muscled away from the rim, as evidenced by Parker’s move on the final shot, which forced Hamilton into a tough fadeaway that never got close.

Detroit will lament those plays all summer, but there’s no reason for Pistons fans to be terribly upset about how the team played. This was a classic playoff game where both teams played at an extremely high level, and the stakes couldn’t have been higher – both sides knew this game was probably for the championship. The deafening Detroit crowd – the loudest in the NBA this year – only added to the drama.

Because of that, the Pistons have accomplished something important even if they lose the series. Several pundits had questioned the legitimacy of Detroit’s 2004 championship due to the series of injuries that befell the Pistons’ opponents. That pattern continued into this year’s Eastern Conference playoffs, when Indiana’s Jermaine O’Neal and Miami’s Dwyane Wade and Shaquille O’Neal all played at considerably less than full strength. In this series, however, the Spurs – widely considered basketball’s best team – have been at full strength, and Detroit has given them all they can handle.

Furthermore, Detroit came oh-so-close to upsetting the conventional wisdom that if both teams played to the peaks of their abilities, the Spurs would prevail. While San Antonio did manage to squeak by in Game 5, Detroit showed a shot-making skill in the half-court offense that many suspected was missing. Billups – perhaps the best player in history to never make an NBA All-Star Game – was brilliant, scoring 34 points and repeatedly bailing Detroit out at the end of the shot clock. Detroit also got late baskets from Hamilton, Rasheed Wallace, and Tayshaun Prince, and all came against tough defense.

Unfortunately, Horry’s flair for the dramatic rendered the Pistons’ performance moot. Now they have to win twice on the road in Games 6 and 7 to take home a second straight title. While it’s not an impossible task – just ask the Boston Red Sox – the Spurs lost only five home games all season. For Detroit to win there twice would require an incredible performance, especially with Big Shot Bob in the opposite uniform.