By all accounts, the left ankle had not swelled. But it might as well have been the size of a stuffed grapefruit without the luxury of a brace, sweat socks and a pair of expensive sneakers. Officially, Chauncey Billups put on his uniform, went to work and clocked in some minutes last night.

Unfortunately, his game played hooky. The Pistons stumbled, bumbled and flopped because of it. Now, once two wins removed from a berth in the NBA Eastern Conference finals, they're also two losses removed from an unwanted summer vacation.

The situation isn't grave for the Pistons. Not yet, anyway. But if they were quivering a little bit en route to Motown after their 95-82 loss to the 76ers in Game 4 last night, don't fault them.