Pistons need 100% Healthy Billups

With a towel wrapped around his waist, Chauncey Billups made the 20-foot walk from the shower to his locker stall.
He didn't walk with a limp, wasn't covered in bandages or ice, and wore a straight face.
Right foot, left foot, repeat.
Billups looked fine.
He said he felt fine.
But the 31 minutes he was on the floor for Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals against Boston didn't back that up.
Billups finished with just nine points and two assists in the Pistons' 88-79 loss to the Celtics.
To his credit, this was Billups' first game in 13 days since straining his right hamstring in Game 3 against Orlando, an injury that kept him on the sideline for Games 4 and 5 of that series.
Against an inferior and inexperienced Magic team, the Pistons proved they could win without their floor general and captain.
But now facing the top-seeded Boston Celtics, the Pistons are well aware they'll need Billups in a greater capacity if Detroit is to advance to its third NBA Finals in the last five years.
"I felt good, it was good just getting back out there," Billups said. "Obviously my explosiveness wasn't really there. But I felt good, I was happy to be out there, and I know I'll get better as we go along."
Billups, who wore leggings on Tuesday, was tentative early.
He shied from attacking the basket. He didn't take advantage of a few mismatches at the top of the key, one with 6-foot-10 Kendrick Perkins guarding him. Not until the fourth quarter did Billups drive the lane. But by game's end, he had attempted only six shots.
Pistons coach Flip Saunders said that Billups didn't look as comfortable coming off screens, but saw some progress as the game wore on.
"Even though he missed a couple late, he looked more for his shot," Saunders said. "He's going to have to be aggressive for us."
Asked whether it will take some time for Billups to establish a rhythm, veteran guard Lindsey Hunter said flatly, "He better get back in gear fast because we only have a little while. We need him now."
But is Billups capable of kicking it into fifth gear?
He said his hamstring felt no different after Game 1 than it did before, although at the morning shootaround he said he had not regained his full range of motion.
"Being the best I can be, I don't know if I can get to that," he said at shootaround. "We only have a month left, so I don't know if I'll ever get to that. But I really wasn't asking for that. I just wanted to be good enough to play, and hopefully I'll be productive."
Certainly more productive than Game 1.
Billups said he started to loosen up in the fourth quarter and added there are some things he should be able to do come Game 2 that he didn't -- or couldn't -- do on Tuesday.
"I started to see a couple gaps that I will take advantage of and I will, I will," Billups said. "I feel good enough to be a little more aggressive. I didn't want to come out and throw the rhythm of the team off too bad being too aggressive when I haven't played in a while, but the rhythm was off anyway."