There's Just No Doubting Thomas

Willis on the series: "It's going to get even tougher, I believe. I just hope no one throws any punches."

Game 3: The second quarter of Friday night's game at the Silverdome found Thomas riding on Willis 's back after a squabble broke out between Mahorn and Wilkins . But it wasn't until the third period that Thomas really came down hard on the Hawks. "I could see it coming," said Laimbeer. "Isiah gets this gleam, this glow about him."

Thomas took a defensive struggle that was tied 41-41 at halftime and turned it into a public flogging. And it wasn't just the three Atlanta guards who played him man-to-man (Rivers, Webb and John Battle) who felt the lashes, either. As Thomas scored basket after basket, he strode from Hawk to Hawk, shouting, "You can't beat us here. This is our house!" And a very, very, very fine house it was for Thomas , whose 12-minute rampage included 25 points, 4 rebounds, 4 steals and 2 assists. (Final numbers: 35, 8, 5, 8.) At one point, he taunted Rivers with his "speed dribble," tapping the ball rapidly between his legs while laughing in Rivers 's face. It's the basketball counterpart of the Ali shuffle—both are designed to irritate an opponent while getting you nowhere. When the show was finally over, Detroit led 85-75 and never looked back.

Thomas said later that he did his shtick because he was irritated at several "unkind comments they've made about our basketball team." He wouldn't get more specific, but one suspects he didn't really need much provocation. One hears a lot about Thomas 's even disposition, his terrific personality, his cherubic smile, all of which he surely possesses. But out on a basketball court, Isiah Thomas is no cherub.

The Hawks controlled themselves after the game, but they were angry at the way Thomas had shown them up, angry at the way Rodman had incited the crowd in the fourth period. "He pointed up in the stands so much he could have given an attendance count," said Hawks sub Scott Hastings . Making it worse was the fact that Rodman and Salley had combined for 27 points and 15 rebounds—Atlanta did not expect to get humiliated by a Worm and a Spider.

The Hawks looked like a beaten team, too. Wittman walked stiffly with an ice pack strapped to his aching lower back, while Wilkins wore one on his badly bruised left calf. But what really needed to be iced down was Rivers 's psyche. "My confidence is gone," admitted Rivers , who had been shown up again by his old friend from Chicago .

Game 4: Happy Mother's Day, Mary Thomas. Some day, eh? By the time your son, Isiah, got the ball on Sunday afternoon, top of the key, five seconds left, his team trailing 88-87, we all knew what was going to happen. We might not have known how, but we knew that Isiah Thomas—you can call him Zeke or you can call him Junior, as his teammates do, or you can just call him Wonderful—was going to win this game.

"You have to be mentally tough to take that last shot," Thomas said after his last-second driving jumper gave Detroit an 89-88 win and the 3-1 series lead, "so that if you miss it, you can bounce back and take it again the next night. A lot of players miss one of those and never recover."

It was Thomas's game to win or lose, no doubt about that. "Zeke was option 1, option 2 and option 3," said Laimbeer. The Pistons broke from their timeout huddle and lined up in a stack, Thomas occupying the second position behind the bulky Mahorn. Thomas received Dantley's inbounds pass easily and faced up on his defender, reserve guard John Battle (19 points in 17 minutes), who at times appeared to be the only Hawk with a pulse. "The idea is to push him where somebody is," said Battle. Battle pushed him right, or, perhaps, that's just where Isiah wanted to go. (Remember, it's his house.) Carr came out to help, but Thomas steamed toward the basket, both Hawks in pursuit. "He was smothered, and all of a sudden I just saw the ball coming over the top," said Laimbeer. Thomas's eight-footer could be described as a "runner," but that would demean Isiah's body control and soft touch—anything he throws up has a chance of going in. And this one did, swishing cleanly.

"It's one of those moments you dream about in your sleep," said Thomas. How long, he was asked, has he been taking that final, gut-churning shot with the game on the line? "As long as I can remember," he said.