Pistons-Magic Preview

By MATT BECKER
Posted Nov 20 2012 2:43PM

The Orlando Magic have been brutal offensively the last two weeks, with their lone win being the exception.

The Magic will try to replicate that offensive showing in Wednesday night's rematch with the Detroit Pistons, who have been inconsistent defensively.

After opening the season by averaging 108.5 points in a pair of wins and scoring 93 in a loss to a Chicago team known for being tough defensively, Orlando (3-7) has had virtually no luck scoring. The Magic have gone 1-6 in their last seven while averaging 77.3 points and 39.9 percent shooting in the defeats.

As bad as it's looked, Orlando did manage to exhibit a legitimate NBA offense in a 110-106 win over the Pistons on Friday. J.J. Redick led the way with 23 points and Arron Afflalo scored 19 for the Magic, who shot a season-best 49.4 percent and had 66 points after halftime.

Orlando, however, has since reverted to its sputtering ways, falling 97-86 in Toronto on Sunday and shooting 37.8 percent in an 81-72 defeat to Atlanta on Monday.

With 11 points against the Hawks, Glen Davis was the only player to score in double figures for the Magic, who had all of their starters in double digits against the Pistons.

It didn't help that Redick (flu) and Jameer Nelson (cough) were not at full strength and combined for 10 points while shooting 4 of 15. Considering how the team has played, however, even a healthy Redick and Nelson might have not made much difference for Orlando, which had 17 assists to 19 turnovers and scored 12 third-quarter points.

"(We) just need to make the easy play," coach Jacque Vaughn said. "Basketball's complicated when you make it complicated. First guy that's open, pass it to him. Get movement and keep it simple."

The Magic didn't seem to have much trouble with that approach against Detroit, compiling 27 assists to 15 turnovers.

The Pistons (2-9) managed to clean up some of the defensive issues that plagued them against Orlando in a 103-83 win over Boston on Sunday. It helped that they were facing a Celtics team playing its fourth game in five nights, but coach Lawrence Frank was happy with the effort.

"We knew what their schedule situation was, and we wanted to take advantage," he said. "We were able to get key stops, and that opened everything up for us."

The Pistons, who held Boston to 4 of 17 from 3-point range, have allowed an average of 79.5 points in their two wins compared to 102.4 in their defeats.

"We've gotten both of our wins with a tough defensive mindset," Frank said. "That's the only way this team is going to consistently win games."

It hasn't hurt that the club is improving offensively.

Detroit shot a season-high 54.2 percent Sunday after hitting 53.7 percent against the Magic. It averaged 91.3 points and shot 41.9 percent in opening 0-8.

Greg Monroe had team highs of 20 points and 13 rebounds against the Celtics and led six Pistons in double figures with 23 versus Orlando.

Kyle Singler has scored 14 in each of the last two games, while Jason Maxiell has totaled 26.

Magic ride 2nd-half run to 90-74 win over Pistons

By KYLE HIGHTOWER
Posted Nov 22 2012 1:29AM

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) Andrew Nicholson scored 15 points, Glen Davis had 11 points and 14 rebounds, and Orlando used a 21-0 run to open the third quarter to earn a 90-74 victory over the Detroit Pistons on Wednesday night.

Orlando struggled to compete with Detroit's big men early, but used the big spurt to blow open the game. The surge included a more than 10-minute scoring drought by the Pistons.

Greg Monroe scored 19 points and Rodney Stuckey added 13 for Detroit, which connected on just 28 of its 85 field goal attempts for the night.

The Magic stopped a two-game losing streak. They continue a five-game homestand Friday against Cleveland.

The Pistons lost to the Magic for the second time in a week. They return home Friday to host Toronto.

Detroit led 48-45 entering the third quarter, but went ice cold from the field, missing its first 14 shots and committing five turnovers to allow Orlando to take a 66-48 lead.

The Pistons finally got their first points of the quarter on a pair of free throws by Stuckey, but didn't end their field goal drought until the 1:59 mark.

The Magic got points from all over the place during the run, including a variety of 3-pointers and easy layups.

Pistons coach Lawrence Frank pulled all his starters at one point during the Magic's onslaught and when they couldn't stop it, he subbed for some of them.

Detroit finished the period with eight points, just besting its franchise-low mark of six points in a quarter. For the Magic, it tied a franchise low for points allowed in a third quarter.

The Magic's lead reached 20 in the opening minutes of the final period as the Pistons never were able to rekindle their early offensive flow.

Looking for a better matchup with 6-foot-9 Pistons small forward Tayshaun Prince, Magic coach Jacque Vaughn gave rookie Maurice Harkless his first start career start at that spot. The shift allowed Arron Afflalo to move back to his natural shooting guard spot.

Harkless' speed did give the veteran fits at times in half court, and in turn opened up the court for his teammates on offense as the Pistons had to respect his ability to get to the rim.

It didn't seem like it would be an easy night for Orlando in the early going, though.

The Pistons led by three at the half, dominating the Magic for the second straight game in the front court.

Detroit scored 32 of its 48 points in the opening 24 minutes in the paint, led by Monroe with 15.

Orlando fell into a 23-13 hole late in the first quarter, before using a 16-6 run to tie it 29.

The spurt, punctuated by a fast-break dunk by Harkless, featured 10 points from the Magic's young contingent of first- and second-year players.

The most active was Nicholson, who finished the half with 10 points to lead all Magic scorers.

Notes: The 74 points were the fewest the Pistons have scored this season. ... Prince briefly left the game late in the first quarter after banging his left knee with another player. ... The eight points allowed by the Magic in the third quarter was the fewest they've allowed in third quarter since 1999 at New Jersey.

Notebook: Magic 90, Pistons 74

Dick Scanlon, for NBA.com
Posted Wed Nov 21, 2012 11:18 PM - Updated Wed Nov 21, 2012 11:18 PM

THE FACTS: The Orlando Magic scored the first 21 points of the second half and beat the Detroit Pistons, 90-74. Detroit led by three points at halftime, but missed its first 15 shots of the third quarter and never got back in the game, losing to Orlando for the second time in five days.

Greg Monroe scored a game-high 19 points for the Pistons, but managed only four of their 26 points after halftime.

Rookie Andrew Nicholson scored 15 points for the Magic, who have only two victories against the Pistons to show for their efforts in their last nine games.

THE STAT: The Pistons went scoreless for the first nine minutes and 45 seconds of the second half.

QUOTABLE: "We took ourselves out of the game. We got away from getting the ball inside where Greg (Monroe) was pretty effective in the first half. We stopped moving and settled for jump shots." -- Pistons forward Kyle Singer.

TURNING POINT: After closing the first half with six straight points to take a 48-45 lead, the Pistons did not score for nine minutes, 45 seconds, and fell 18 points behind.

HOT: The word doesn't apply to this game except for Nicholson, who made seven of nine shots.

NOT: The Pistons missed their first 15 shots of the second half and 31 of their first 34.

GOOD MOVE: According to Magic forward Glen Davis, coach Jacque Vaughn didn't say much at halftime. He showed some video and said: "Let's go play hard."

QUOTABLE II: "They executed better than us, that's for sure, but they didn't come out with anything special. They stuck to basics and they made it work." -- Monroe.

BAD MOVE: Whatever Pistons coach Lawrence Frank tried in the third quarter, it didn't work.

QUOTABLE III: "We had line changes tonight. We had guys going in and out. You're constantly trying to find different answers, putting different guys in there to see if they can bring something different to the game." -- Frank.

ROOKIE WATCH: Maurice Harkless, one of nine rookies on the two rosters, got his first start for the Magic. The 19-year-old forward put up seven points and four rebounds in 21 minutes, but Nicholson came off the bench with better production. Andre Drummond had four points in 19 minutes for the Pistons.

NOTABLE: The Pistons shot 8-for-44 (.182) in the second half. ... The Magic average 104.3 points in their four victories, and 79.6 points in their six losses.

UP NEXT: For the Pistons: Friday vs. Toronto; Sunday @ New York; Monday vs. Portland. For the Magic: Friday vs. Cleveland; Sunday vs. Boston; Wednesday vs. San Antonio.

• Pistons: Kravtsov, Middleton
• Magic: Harrington, Turkoglu

• Pistons: --
• Magic: --

• Lead Changes: 3
• Times Tied: 7

• Arena: Amway Center, Orlando, FL
• Officials: #15 Bennett Salvatore, #70 Brent Barnaky, #31 Scott Wall
• Attendance: 17199
• Duration: 2:11