Pistons win without Billups; Steal one from Magic

THE NBA: WHERE WINNING ON THE ROAD HAPPENS.

Without Chauncey Billups, the Pistons are not an NBA caliber basketball team.

However, they are still a team that has the ability to take down the Orlando Magic, which they proved on Saturday.

Rip Hamilton had 32 points and Tayshaun Prince chipped in 17 as the Pistons took down the Magic by a point.

The Pistons played terribly the first half, but in the 3rd quarter, they turned it on, scoring 15 unanswered points to storm back into the game.

While the Magic tried to recover in the fourth, it wasn't enough. The Pistons won 90-89 after a game-winning floater in the lane from Tayshaun Prince.

The Pistons now take a commanding 3-1 lead in the series, heading back to the Palace.


Naturally of course, it wouldn't be the NBA Playoffs without atleast one guranteed win. This year's gurantee is from the Magic's Jameer Nelson.

"We're going to make some adjustments and go there and win this (next) game," said Nelson in his post game conference.

We'll see on Tuesday, as the Pistons take their 26-3 record in closing out playoff series into Game 5 of this conference semi-final match-up. «»

NBA Playoff Quick Hits:

-- Boston Celtics fans have to be worried about their team's 0-4 record on the road during the playoffs. Despite their NBA leading 31 road wins during the season, the Celts are yet to win one away from Boston.

-- The Hornets v Spurs match-up in the west is going to be the best series of the playoffs so far. I'm predicting the young Hornets sting the Spurs at home in game 7.

-- Kobe Bryant won the NBA's MVP award this week. Despite Kobe probably being the unanimous choice for the award, how can the MVP be given to a player who asked to be traded before the season even started?