It’s a Guarding Party for Detroit Trio : Pistons: Thomas takes over in key third-quarter run, Dumars plays well despite his father’s death and Johnson finally heats up off the bench as Trail Blazers are shot down.

The Palace guards held their ground again, this time away from home and under the most difficult of circumstances.

The backcourt of Isiah Thomas, Joe Dumars and Vinnie Johnson went for 32, 26 and 20 points, respectively in the Detroit Pistons’ 112-109 victory Tuesday night. Thomas strolled into another one of those shooting zones that helped him erupt for 33 in Game 1 at the Palace of Auburn Hills. After scoring two and two in the first two games in these NBA finals, Johnson came off the bench with his second solid performance. Dumars, carrying the biggest load of all, the death of his father, played as if without any heavy burden.

In other words, everyone moved forward.

No one had more concerns coming in than Dumars, greeted by the Portland Memorial Coliseum crowd with supportive applause during introductions of the starting lineups. He had originally planned to go home to Detroit for the services of his father, namesake and hero, but family in Louisiana postponed that until Saturday, part of a two-day break in the schedule.

Dumars’ performance, however, made it a very real possibility that the series might not last beyond Thursday night. Shaking off a one-of-six first quarter, when the Pistons hit just 36%, he went eight of 15 the last three periods. In the final five minutes of a close game, he made six free throws without a miss.

More than a few were impressed.

“It didn’t surprise me,” Trail Blazer Coach Rick Adelman said. “That’s just the way he is--such a class person. Maybe it was a good outlet for him.”

Or maybe it was important to get this first game behind him. A relief, if nothing else.

“I think so,” said Piston General Manager Jack McCloskey, who has stayed close to Dumars since Sunday. “That was pretty evident.”

Dumars, staying clear of the media, didn’t need to say anything afterward to prove it.

“He accomplished something,” McCloskey said.

Thomas, fast making the series MVP balloting a non-question, had a showing reminiscent of Game 1 back home, No, a show more than a showing.

--Twenty-two points in the third quarter, connecting on eight of 13 shots.

--Four consecutive three-point baskets, the last of which gave the Pistons a 16-point lead, 81-65, with 2:17 to play in the period.

--Sixteen consecutive Detroit points, going from a baseline left jumper to three-point bomb to rebounding his own miss for a layin to a pair of straight-away three-pointers to another from the right corner. It was like he was playing around the world by himself. Or H-O-R-S-E. Or M-V-P, and no one else got a chance.

“It felt real good,” said Thomas, limited to only three shots and 10 minutes the first two quarters after picking up three fouls. “I felt in the first half that I was shooting well, and then I got in the early foul trouble. As I sat there, I sensed we could take advantage of them, really take control. More or less knock the emotion out of them.

“Once I hit a couple shots, I felt like I could make them from anywhere.”

In the scheme of the Piston offense, when four players funnel the ball to the hot shooter, that was expected.

“That’s a lot of pressure, because it is not something I like to do all the time. But you have to be man enough to shoulder the blame. . . . It gets tough sometime, but we’ve got some great guys on this team and when things don’t go right they understand.”

No need to find a sympathetic soul.

Hard to believe this was the same Vinnie Johnson who struggled to reach awful earlier in the series. Even after going nine of 13 in Game 3, his percentage in the finals was still 43.5% at the start of play Tuesday. For a player whose solitary role is to score off the bench, this was known as trouble.

From this came a nine-for-12 night.

“We have the three best guards in the league, period,” said John Salley, a forward. “That’s why it’s a guard-oriented offense. When they get rolling, there’s no stopping us.”