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BEATEN AND BRUISED
The good news? Game 4 is three days removed from Game 3. The bad news? The Pistons might need three weeks to get Chauncey Billups right. Insult was heaped upon injury in Orlando on Wednesday night, the Pistons floundering from the start and losing their All-Star point guard less than four minutes into the game with a hamstring injury that appeared ominous from Billups’ gingerly gait as he limped to the locker room. Orlando took a 16-2 lead as the Pistons shot 1 of 12 to start a disastrous night. The Pistons rallied, cutting the lead to three late in the third quarter, but an 11-0 Orlando run to start the fourth quarter quashed any comeback dreams. Compounding the loss of Billups was a foul-plagued and frustrated night for Rasheed Wallace, limited to 28 minutes in an 11-point, four-rebound performance on 4 of 15 shooting.
FLIP SAUNDERS ON BILLUPS: “We’re shooting for him to play on Saturday, to be honest. He’s sore right now, but … we won’t know for the next 24 hours to see where he’s really at. But all indications are that we’re shooting for him to play on Saturday.”
ORLANDO COACH STAN VAN GUNDY: “The two biggest factors in the game were our start and Chauncey’s injury. You can’t negate that. He’s not only a great player, he’s their leader; he runs everything. I think Rodney Stuckey is a terrific young player and did a hell of a job today, but Chauncey Billups is their guy and it definitely had a huge effect on the game.”
First – Orlando appeared especially intent on running and getting quicker shot opportunities from the opening tap. Chauncey Billups went down at 8:11, grabbing at his right hamstring. Rodney Stuckey came on for him and immediately surrendered a three-point play to Jameer Nelson that gave Orlando a 9-2 lead. Howard blocked a Stuckey shot, leading to a transition layup and a 16-2 lead, forcing Flip Saunders to call his second timeout with 5:40 left. The Pistons were 1 of 12 and trailing 20-3 when Rasheed Wallace hit a triple with just under four minutes left. Stuckey picked up two quick fouls, replaced by Arron Afflalo with Tayshaun Prince running the half-court offense. Wallace picked up his second foul in the final minute. The Pistons made their final five shots after starting 2 of 15, but still trailed by 14 – it was 18 at one point – after Afflalo’s buzzer-beating layup. Score: Orlando 30, PISTONS 16.
Second – The Pistons cut it to 10 early. Injury and foul trouble led to odd lineup combinations. Jarvis Hayes, out of the rotation so far this series, and Walter Herrmann came on together with eight minutes to go as Prince got his first rest. A Keith Bogans triple restored Orlando’s lead to 16. Wallace picked up his third foul with 5:54 left. The lead fluctuated between 11 and 16 with Hamilton and Stuckey carrying the Pistons offensively and Rashard Lewis hitting a corner triple and a floater over Prince to prevent the Pistons from gaining serious momentum. Lewis scored Orlando’s last 12 points of the quarter, reopening the lead to 15 before a three-point play by Stuckey cut it to 12. Score: Orlando 54, PISTONS 42.
Third – Stuckey opened scoring to cut to 10, but three Wallace misses prevented further erosion of Orlando’s lead and a Hedo Turkoglu triple bumped it back to 15. A 6-0 run cut it to nine when Wallace picked up his fourth with 7:22 left and had to leave. The Pistons again cut it to nine with four minutes to go as both teams went through ragged offensive stretches. A Stuckey pull-up cut it to seven with three minutes left as he attacked the smaller Nelson, doing it again on the next possession to get two free throws and cut the lead to five. Orlando yanked Nelson for Keyon Dooling, used him to guard Hamilton and put Bogans on Stuckey. A Prince jumper cut it to three. The Pistons flubbed a fast break that became a turnover that led to a Lewis triple and a six-point lead. For the third straight quarter, the Pistons scored on the last possession, Hamilton getting fouled with 0.8 on the clock and making one of two free throws. Score: Orlando 73, PISTONS 69.
Fourth – A Lewis triple on the first possession gave Orlando breathing room at seven. A Dooling triple made it 11 and forced a Saunders timeout at 10:42. The run grew to 11-0 before Wallace was fouled at 9:25. Wallace drew Howard’s fourth foul at 8:54 but missed both foul shots, leaving the lead at 16. The Pistons had no more rallies in them. But Orlando coach Stan Van Gundy wasn’t taking any chances. His starters stayed on the floor until 1:34 remained, after Flip Saunders had waved Amir Johnson, Afflalo and the rest of his bench on for his starters. Score: Orlando 111, PISTONS 86.
The story of the game in Pistons red, white and blue
– The Pistons could have had the lead into single digits – maybe well into single digits – by halftime despite the Billups injury and the 18-point hole they dug for themselves if not for Lewis’ sizzling first half. Lewis shot 7 of 8, including both of his 3-point tries, in an 18-point first half. He made two huge baskets in the second half, a triple late in the third quarter to stem Pistons momentum and another to open the fourth, and finished with a playoff career-best 33 points, shooting 11 of 15 overall and 5 of 6 from the 3-point line. He added six rebounds and five assists.
SAUNDERS: “I thought Lewis was great tonight. He caused us a lot of problems with regards to making threes and timing the transition and being able to isolate to take us off the dribble.”
LEWIS: “I hadn’t been shooting the 3 ball well ever since the playoffs started. It was able to fall tonight. At the same time, my shot’s been feeling good the whole time. Just hasn’t been going in. But shooters don’t quit shooting and I didn’t want to think twice about it.”
Blue Collar – With Billups out and the guard rotation short, there was no rest for Hamilton and Prince. OK, not much. Hamilton sat out three seconds until Saunders mercifully took him out for a quick breather midway through the fourth quarter and then yanked him for good with a little more than two minutes to play. But he still played 44:21 and led the Pistons with 24 points, grabbing six rebounds, as well. Prince played 40:38, scoring 22 points and grabbing seven rebounds.
PRINCE: “Obviously, the first quarter was our downfall. More importantly our guys fought back. Our young guys came in gave us some help with Chauncey out. Going into next game we really have to get off to a good start.”
Red Flag – Nothing the Pistons could have done about it once the lineup was handed in 90 minutes before the game, but they could have used either Lindsey Hunter or Juan Dixon in uniform instead of street clothes. Dixon might be the choice going forward because without Billups, the Pistons could use some perimeter shooting and backcourt scoring punch. If the Pistons decide they need both Hunter or Dixon because of the different traits they offer, that would trigger another decision – whether to keep Hayes or Herrmann active.
Pivotal plays, frozen moments and lasting images from a tumultuous night
HURT AND HAMSTRUNG – The enduring image from an otherwise forgettable Game 3 was that of Billups, driving on Nelson to take him under the basket and utilize his size advantage as he often does, getting caught up with Nelson as the defender fell along the baseline, Billups’ left foot entangled with Nelson’s feet and getting dragged under him as his right foot stayed planted on the court. Before he crumpled to the floor, laid out in pain on his stomach for several seconds, Billups clutched at his right hamstring. Moments later, accompanied by strength coach Arnie Kander, Billups hobbled off looking like a man who wouldn’t be seen again on this night … and maybe not anytime soon.
HAMILTON: “We have one of the best trainers in the world in Arnie Kander. Hopefully he will get him right. We don’t know what is going on yet. We look forward to him playing the next game.”
QUICK LEARNING CURVE – The night started dizzyingly for Stuckey, thrust into action less than four minutes from tipoff with the specter of being the No. 1 point guard no doubt tugging at his thoughts with Billups obviously hurt. Then he picked up two quick fouls, missed his first two jump shots and had Dwight Howard crush a layup attempt. But Stuckey’s season-long fearlessness surfaced soon enough, and by halftime he’s put nine points on the board without a turnover. Stuckey was a central figure in the Pistons’ third-quarter rally, scoring eight points, and finished with 19 points, three rebounds and three assists and had just two turnovers.
STUCKEY: “I just have to be ready. I am ready to play. I’m just going to go out and do what I did today in Game 4. Lindsey is always constantly telling me to be aggressive when I am out there. Tonight I was being aggressive getting to the basket, getting to the free throw line and getting easy baskets.”
WOULDA COULDA SHOULDA – Improbable as it seemed, the Pistons looked like they were grabbing momentum by the throat late in the third quarter, having chopped Orlando’s lead to three – the closest they’d been since it was 4-2 – when they forced a turnover and went the other way four-on-two. Hamilton had the ball on the left wing and spotted Prince on the right wing. But there was traffic between them and the Pistons’ spacing wasn’t appropriate, and Hamilton’s pass was picked off by a hustling Lewis. The advantage went the other way and Orlando wound up feeding a trailing Lewis, spotting up at the 3-point line on a night he wasn’t missing much. He didn’t miss this time – and what looked like a one-point differential was instead six.
SAUNDERS: “Like I told our guys, we gave ourselves chances. We made a lot of runs after we fell behind by 16. We had opportunities and when we got it to 67-64 we had a three-on-one and they steal it and (Rashard) Lewis came down and hit the three, now it’s 70-64. We got to the point where we really couldn’t put enough pressure and basically we got into the fourth quarter and missed some shots and just ran out of gas.”
A little perspective on a night when it’s difficult to grasp
The NBA had to put a few gaps in the schedule for this series when Atlanta took Boston to seven first-round games, delaying the start of the other Eastern Conference semifinal. That now plays to the Pistons’ advantage. They get two days off before Game 4 and then two more full days off before the series resumes at The Palace for Game 5 on Tuesday. Hamstrings are unpredictable, but if anybody can get Billups back near full strength in short order it’s Arnie Kander. If Billups can’t go, no question the Pistons are hurt. But Stuckey showed they won’t be powerless.
NUMBERS CRUNCH
Blocked shots in the first half alone by Dwight Howard, who victimized Jason Maxiell twice and Arron Afflalo, Walter Herrmann and Rodney Stuckey once each. Howard finished with six blocks, one off his season’s best, and put up 20 points and 12 boards to go with it.
