NBA Blogging: Chauncy! Stay Away!

In the second round of the playoffs, the home team has won 15 out of 16 games. The lone exception? The Pistons. Game 4 in Orlando. They took what I thought was surely a game they were going to lose with Chauncy out. Goes to show, I guess, just what a veteran, experienced team they are but, really, the Magic played that game away.

The Pistons could very easily be in a tied series now and while the team that goes up 2-0 first tends to win overwhelmingly (It's something like 83% of the time, I think, that the team that gets that early lead moves on.) I'm glad they're not. Winning 1 out of 3 is a lot easier than winning a best 2 out of 3. And, now, with the Celts and Cavs tied up, the Pistons have a chance to close out the series tonight, at home. And then another. And another.

If they can win this game then there should be plenty of time for Billups to rest and recover. But even if they don't, there should still be plenty of time. It's no longer crucial, in other words, to get him back in the line-up as soon as possible. Instead, the Pistons can take their time and let him get back to full health.

Which is where they need him, after all. They might be able to get past the Magic without Chauncy but they won't go much further. Without a healthy Billups I don't care how banged up the Celtics or Cavaliers are, the Pistons odds of beating them without Billups are all too low. Better to keep him out than to risk putting him in at anything less than 100%.