Who's Next for Hamilton and the Pistons?

The Detroit Pistons, as good as they are, do not have a legitimate go-to-guy.

The Pistons don't need one guy beating you, and they would prefer that such responsibilities never fall upon a single individual. But they unleashed another dimension in their Game 5 clincher Wednesday, the lone unstoppable force.

Richard Hamilton.

''It might turn a few heads if people see somebody on our team scoring 40,'' said Lindsey Hunter. ''That's not what we're usually about. But he did it all within the flow of our offense, which feeds off our defense. It makes it fun, doesn't it?''

It makes them even scarier.

''Well, that's fun, too,'' Hunter answered.

Winning remains the best payback. Hamilton was hobbled with a sore ankle, an achy thigh and a missing-in-action shooting stroke. He was playing tentatively.

Trainer Arnie Kander loosened the tape on his ankle and removed the protective patch from his thigh. The objective, Just let 'er Rip.

''He said he didn't want to have me restrained,'' Hamilton said. ''He wanted me to just go out there and play and don't worry about it and just have confidence in it. I think that really gave me a whole lot of confidence for me to go out there and make plays and make moves and do stuff that I was usually doing.''

Those unexplainable nights come when the rim assumes the size of the Grand Canyon and everything drops. But the Pistons aren't a scorer's team. They like their shots evened out, creating the necessary balance that precludes opponents from concentrating their defensive efforts on one person.

But it doesn't hurt for the next Eastern Conference victim to know that Piston poison can be administered lethally from a single source.

''Rip was great,'' said Chauncey Billups. ''He got it cooking early and once he had it cooking, everybody else kind of fell back, and we got him the ball where he needed it.''

Chauncey adds, ''I told him, 'Welcome back.''

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