AUBURN HILLS -- The Detroit Pistons have a versatile roster, but they haven't spent a lot of time playing "small ball" until the playoffs.
While it has hurt the Pistons on the boards, playing a three-guard lineup helped them pull out a Game 2 win at Boston on Thursday, and kept Detroit from getting blown out in their 94-80 Game 3 loss on Saturday.
It remains to be seen how Detroit's smaller lineup will affect the Pistons in their Game 4 matchup with Boston tonight.
"It's tough, because we really haven't done it that much," said Tayshaun Prince, who slides over to the power forward position when Detroit goes with a three-guard set. "We've done it maybe seven, eight games out of the whole season."
Pistons coach Flip Saunders has gone with the smaller lineup to try and speed up the game, maybe force a few turnovers.
But more than anything else, he has gone with the three-guard setup because of Rodney Stuckey's emergence.
"We've got to play him, play him somewhere," Saunders said.
Playing Stuckey significant minutes as part of a three-guard lineup is a compromise of sorts for the Pistons, who have received inconsistent play from point guard Chauncey Billups.
After struggling in Detroit's Game 1 loss to Boston, Billups bounced back with a strong 19-point, seven-assist performance in Detroit's Game 2 win. In that game, Billups tweaked the right hamstring that has forced him to miss two games this postseason.
"The thing is I don't want to be talking about it," said Billups, who still receives lengthy treatment sessions with Arnie Kander, Detroit's strength and conditioning coach. "The bottom line is I've got to play better, we've got to play better, and whether it's hurting, still hurting or not, I've still got to play better. I've still got to play through it. That's exactly what I intend on doing."
There's a good chance he'll be doing it with at least two other guards on the floor.
Billups finds fault: Billups isn't blaming his sore right hamstring for his poor performance in Detroit's Game 3 loss. He doesn't believe his 1-for-6 shooting performance was the primary culprit, either.
"I thought I just didn't really personally do a good job of leading," Billups said.
"That's not just shooting the ball and scoring the ball. I think just leading. I think the game got away from us early, and I think I didn't step up enough vocally when guys were missing coverages and when things (weren't) going right."
Pistons guard Richard Hamilton said Detroit's Game 3 loss had nothing to do with Billups' ability to lead.
"I believe he's doing everything possible," Hamilton said. "He's one of the best point guards in the league and he's going out there and trying to do it."
Quick hits: Since 2004, Detroit is 3-2 in playoff series in which they lost two of the first three games. Their most recent comeback from a 2-1 series deficit came in the first round of this year's playoffs, against Philadelphia. After losing two of the first three, Detroit bounced back to win three in a row and advance to the next round of the playoffs. ... James Posey came into Saturday's game having scored a total of five points in Games 1 and 2. On Saturday, he had seven of his 12 off the bench, in the first half. ... Boston's Sam Cassell saw his first action in the Eastern Conference finals on Saturday, finishing with five points in eight minutes.
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