Billups

BIRMINGHAM, Mich. — All of basketball is about to learn if the Detroit Pistons can win without Chauncey Billups at his best.

After masking how much his injured hamstring would limit him in the first two games of the Eastern Conference finals, the camouflage fell off in the Celtics’ 94-80 win in Game Three Saturday. Billups played only 26 minutes and made 1-of-6 shots to finish with six points and four assists. No longer does anyone need an answer as to whether or not Billups is hurt.

“The thing is, I don’t want to be talking about it,” Billups said after a light Pistons’ workout yesterday. “I don’t want it to be an issue. As much as it is, I don’t want it to be and keep talking about it. Still hurting or not, I still have to play better. I’ve still got to play through it. That’s exactly what I intend on doing.”

Billups missed two games in the second-round win over the Orlando Magic and appeared to reaggravate his hamstring in the Pistons’ Game Two win at Boston. He was powerless to stop the Celtics’ easy victory Saturday night.

“In that game, I thought I just didn’t really personally do a good job of leading, you know what I mean?” Billups said. “That’s not just shooting the ball and scoring the ball. I think just leading. When I can’t do the things that I’m accustomed to doing offensively, there have to be other ways to have presence out there, but I thought I waited too late yesterday to step up and lead in that way.”

Detroit coach Flip Saunders has played impressive rookie Rodney Stuckey in place of Billups, but the veteran says he needs to play to help his team win this series.

“At this juncture of the season, you can’t sit out,” he said. “I’m a leader of this team, and no matter what’s going on I feel like I’m better out there on the court.”

The best medicine

If Ray Allen appears a bit bleary-eyed these days, he has a good reason. It’s not his erratic jump shot or the pressure of playoff basketball. He simply does not get much sleep.

Allen said yesterday that, home or away, he’s not a big sleeper. Coming home after an exciting playoff game keeps Allen wired into the wee hours of the morning.

“I went to bed at probably five o’clock in the morning and that’s pretty consistent,” he said yesterday at the team’s hotel. “You turn the TV on and get wrapped up in the program. Your body is tired but mentally you’re wired.”

Allen admits he can sit and brood after a loss or smile after a win like Saturday night’s. But he doesn’t fall asleep.

“You sleep easier (after a win) but you still don’t go to sleep,” he said. “There’s something about going from a building that’s full of 20,000 people, especially a late game. You come back to the hotel and you’re just so wired. You get to the room at one-thirty, two o’clock and you can’t go to sleep. There’s so many thoughts in your mind.”

At home, Allen has one remedy to get him to bed. Laughing. He says that he read once where laughing can help you relax and lets you live longer. “Like George Burns and Bob Hope,” he said.

“I always have on my TiVo America’s Funniest Videos. I have about 10 episodes recorded,” he said. “I put them on just before I go to sleep,and I laugh hysterically for about 20 minutes before I go to sleep. It changes your whole mood.”

The high road

The Celtics were obviously thrilled with winning their first playoff road game Saturday night but they’re not set to revert to relying solely on their home-court advantage. They’d like another road win tonight that would push the Pistons to the brink of elimination.

“We got a road win, which is good, but, hey, we want to try to get another one. Detroit played well in our building so we can’t take this opportunity for granted,” said Paul Pierce. “There is no complacency with this team. It’s good to be up 2-1, but it’ll be even better to go up 3-1. We don’t want to come back to Detroit. We have a tremendous opportunity (today), so we can’t take it for granted.”

A learning experience

The Celtics’ bench continued to draw praise from both camps yesterday for its 23-point effort in Game Three. The addition to the mix was veteran guard Sam Cassell. He hadn’t gotten off the Celts’ bench for the previous four games but replaced Eddie House in the rotation and made two key shots, one a 3-pointer, in eight minutes of action.

Cassell, a 15-year veteran, says adjusting to bench time hasn’t been easy.

“I’m not used to not playing at this time of the year. This is all new to me,” he said. “I think I’ve been taking it pretty well. Five years ago it would be hell around here but five years ago I was playing 35-40 minutes.

Cassell said the difference in starting and coming off the bench has been more dramatic that he ever realized.

“I get out there and everyone is running 100 miles-an-hour. I was in the 40 lane,” he said. “You go up and down a few times, everything comes back. I’ve been a starter in this league for 13 years. When you make that transition from a starter to a reserve, wow, I never thought it would be that big of a deal but it’s a big difference. You get into the game and they throw you right into the fire and the fire is hot.”

kmcnamar@projo.com