It is not a big surprise that the Detroit Pistons are winning, but how they’re winning should give their fans renewed hope.

The Pistons are the closest thing to a constant that we have in the NBA. In each of the past six seasons, they have won 50 or more games, and in the last five, they have advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals or further. They have won one title and came this close to another. What’s more, they’ve accomplished this run despite two coaching changes and losing two key pivotmen to free agency.

The Pistons, typical of a team with such a winning tradition, have had a stable core of players during this run. Their perimeter players, guards Chauncey Billups and Richard Hamilton and forward Tayshaun Prince, are in their sixth season as a starting unit. Power forward Rasheed Wallace has been on board since February 2004. Two seasons ago at the All-Star game, when Billups, Wallace, Hamilton, and the since departed center Ben Wallace all made the Eastern team, they began running plays from the Piston playbook when a majority of Detroit players was on the floor. Were it not a burden to the team, the idea of just sending the Pistons team into international competition each summer has merit.

The Pistons are 17–7 this season and their point differential suggests that they can be even better and may win 60 games, but it isn’t all Detroit Basketball as usual. There’s been a slight tweak in their personnel usage.

The kind of rapport that exists on this team has made it easy for coaches to nearly go on automatic pilot, and it shows. Detroit’s core players have played more minutes than any other team’s first four over the past few seasons. Within that context, it’s easier to see how the Pistons have finished the last two seasons in disappointment. Despite finishing with the best record in the division, they have fallen in the Conference Finals and during each defeat, they have lost their trademark cool professionalism and turned into whining malcontents.

But this season, the Pistons are managing their minutes as if they expect the season to extend through Memorial Day weekend if not further. Each of the Pistons’ main four players are playing two to three minutes a game less than last season. In the course of a single game that may not seem like much, but it’s the real life equivalent of saving $10 a week; after a year it adds up. Each of the Detroit starters are being saved a total of five to six games’ worth of action over the course of the 82-game season. That kind of extra in the tank could come in handy in the playoffs.

The Pistons can make this change because they have the strongest bench since their last title team, and their move last week to send reserve center Nazr Mohammed to Charlotte for centers Primoz Brezec and forward Walter Hermann underscores their commitment to bolster this area. Although Brezec and Hermann saw starts in Charlotte, they will have to work hard to find a place in the Piston rotation due to a huge influx of young players. Earlier this decade, the Pistons did a poor job of drafting and developing young talent. Darko Milicic, the second overall pick of the 2003 draft and now a journeyman reserve center, is a fine example of both weaknesses. Of the current Piston starters, only Prince was drafted by Detroit; the rest of the unit was acquired via trade or free agency. I was beginning to think that Isiah Thomas might have a post-Knick future in Detroit as a consulting scout. However, in the last three summers, the Pistons have fortified this weakness considerably by drafting power forwards Amir Johnson and Jason Maxiell in 2005, and last season they added guards Rodney Stuckey and Arron Afflalo. Maxiell is the first man off the bench and he leads the team in blocks while playing 24 minutes a game. Afflalo and Johnson have made an impact in limited burn; Stuckey is expected to cut the starter’s minutes when he returns from a hand injury in the next few weeks. This young crew joins veterans Flip Murray and Jarvis Hayes to give the Pistons the best group of reserves in the Conference.

The arrival of young players with promise is crucial for Detroit. All of their starters except Prince are on the wrong side of 30, and while they have had a tremendous run of good health over the past few years, injuries — if not age — are starting to take a toll on the Piston five.

Tomorrow night, the Pistons take on the Boston Celtics in what will probably be the most closely watched Eastern Conference game of the season so far. The Celtics are off to a historically hot start, 20–2, but they have played only a handful of quality teams during the first quarter of the season. The Pistons should be their toughest test yet, and the game right now looks like a preview of the Eastern Conference Finals. It’s a big test for Boston’s new starting lineup, but it’s also a big test for Detroit’s new bench.

mjohnson@nysun.com