Pistons-Magic Preview

By TAYLOR BECHTOLD
Posted Jan 26 2013 4:31PM

While they made some strides defensively in their last game, the Orlando Magic couldn't put a dent in their lengthy slump.

The free-falling Magic will try to snap a four-game skid and win for only the third time in 18 games Sunday night when they host the Detroit Pistons.

Wins have been awfully tough to come by for Orlando, regardless of the venue or strength of its opponent.

The Magic (14-28) have lost nine of 10 at home and eight straight against losing teams after DeMar DeRozan hit a buzzer-beater to give last-place Toronto a 97-95 victory at Orlando on Thursday.

"I just think the basketball gods are against us right now," said guard J.J. Redick, whose team is a league-worst 2-15 since Dec. 21. "They've turned their backs on us. We need to get back in their good graces."

The Magic's biggest area of concern has been on the defensive end, allowing 108.0 points per game - 9.1 above their season average - over their last 13.

Orlando showed signs of improvement Thursday as it held an opponent under 100 points for only the third time in 14 games. The Magic limited Toronto to 22 in the fourth quarter as they came back from an 11-point deficit to tie the game.

"That's what we want to focus on, is being able to get stops on demand," coach Jacque Vaughn said. "That's the basketball we need to see every night."

Vaughn's club, however, forced the Raptors into only 10 turnovers while falling to 1-15 when creating 10 or fewer.

The Magic rank last in the NBA with 11.9 forced turnovers per game but will try to tighten things up against Detroit, among the league's worst in turning the ball over at 15.2 per game.

"You look what those turnovers turn into. They are hard to recover from," coach Lawrence Frank said. "We're not moving it where it needs to be moved."

The Pistons, 4-16 away from home, are closing a three-game road swing following losses to first-place clubs Chicago and Miami. They had won nine of 13 before the trip.

Detroit (16-27) has averaged 85.0 points in the last two games and now returns to the city where its lowest point total of the season was posted, losing 90-74 at Orlando on Nov. 21.

Greg Monroe will try to build off his 31-point, 12-rebound effort in a 110-88 defeat to the Heat on Friday. He's averaged 19.3 points on 57.1 percent shooting in three matchups with the Magic this season.

The Pistons snapped a three-game skid in the series with a 105-90 home win over Orlando on Tuesday. Detroit held a 54-41 advantage on the glass, including 16-6 in offensive boards, after getting outrebounded by a 97-78 margin in the first two meetings.

Orlando big men Nikola Vucevic and Glen Davis figure to play key roles in neutralizing Detroit on the boards after combining for 34 points and 21 rebounds against the Heat.

Redick has been the team's most dangerous scorer, averaging 18.2 points and shooting 32 for 60 from 3-point range in his last nine games. He's scored 20.0 per game in his last four against the Pistons.

Pistons hold off Magic for 104-102 win

By KYLE HIGHTOWER
Posted Jan 27 2013 10:19PM

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) Detroit coach Lawrence Frank wanted his team to finish a tough road trip on a positive note.

The Pistons did that, and provided some late-game toughness.

Brandon Knight had a career-high 31 points, including five 3-pointers, and Greg Monroe scored 17 points, helping the Pistons stave off three game-tying field goal attempts in the closing seconds of their 104-102 victory on Sunday night.

"It was good to see how we responded." Frank said of the win, which also snapped a two-game losing streak. "There were 20 lead changes in that game. We kept our poise and our resolve."

Will Bynum also had a season-high 12 assists on a night in which the Pistons were under their season average for turnovers and assisted on 25 of their 40 field goals.

"The ball bounces funny sometimes," Knight said. "But still, you've got to be there and get some of those bounces and make some of the effort plays ... I gotta commend my teammates on making some of those effort plays toward the end of the game."

The loss spoiled a big night for J.J. Redick, who tied a career high with 31 points and set a career high with eight 3-pointers.

Jameer Nelson had 18 points and eight assists, and Glen Davis added 17 points and 12 rebounds.

The Magic have lost five straight games, including 10 of 11 at home. They've also lost 10 straight games to teams with records below .500.

"We tried," Magic coach Jacque Vaughn said. "I keep believing that it's going to turn in our favor, to be honest with you. I'm genuine. I'm upfront with them. I tell them as fair as I can, that you continue to work hard, you don't skip steps. ... We will continue to be resilient, continue to push guys, but continue to hug them at the same time.

"That's what we do."

The lead changed hands 10 times in the final period.

The Pistons led 93-89 on a 3-pointer from the wing by Knight with just over six minutes to play. It would grow to five points a few possessions later on a floater by Bynum.

The Magic found a way to rally. E'Twaun Moore connected on a deep 3 to trim Detroit's lead to 95-93. A Nikola Vucevic dunk tied it up, and Moore's three-point play off a steal put the Magic up 98-95 with 2:50 left.

Detroit's rebounding kept alive back-to-back possessions, each ending in 3-pointers by Knight, to put the Pistons back in front 101-98.

The Magic got it back to 103-100 on another basket by Moore, but Davis came up short on a jumper, giving the Pistons the ball with under a minute to play.

Orlando pulled down the rebound on a Detroit miss, but Redick fired an air ball from 3 on the other end, which was corralled by Detroit.

Bynum was fouled with less than 10 seconds left and got 1 of 2 free throws to make it 104-100.

Nelson was fouled on a 3-point attempt. He made 2 of the first 3, but the third rattled out.

During a scramble for the rebound, the Magic got off three attempts that would have tied it, but came up empty as time expired.

The Pistons took a 10-point lead into the break, but it was Redick who was the star of the first half.

Redick scored 16 of the Magic's first 18 points to start the game, and knocked down 6 of his 7 attempts from beyond the arc as Orlando took a 32-29 lead.

The rest of the Magic's lineup struggled to support him offensively, though, as Detroit responded with a 15-0 run to retake control. Redick was 7 for 10 from the field in the opening 24 minutes, compared to 9 for 33 for the rest of his teammates.

Redick said he hopes the Magic keep a positive mindset as they begin a five-game road trip beginning Monday at Brooklyn.

"It just seems like it's getting more and more frustrating," he said. "The way we're losing is tough. But we can control our mindset, our attitude, our perspective over these last nine games before the break. We have a chance to use this road trip to get better, and we will."

The Pistons get one day off before hosting Milwaukee on Tuesday.

Frank said ending the road trip with a win was big.

"It's really great," he said. "We had a very tough loss after being up 17 in Chicago, (and) a very disappointing performance in Miami where we underperformed. Today, even though it wasn't perfect, the spirit was. Great collective team win. Great fight.

"I think our guys showed some great resolve and I think it's good to finish the trip on a positive note."

Notes: Davis received a technical foul with 8:33 left in the third quarter. It was the fourth straight game he has received a technical and is his fifth of the season. ...The Pistons earned just their fifth road win of the season, improving to 5-16.

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Follow Kyle Hightower on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/khightower

Notebook: Pistons 104, Magic 102

Dick Scanlon, for NBA.com
Posted Mon Jan 28, 2013 12:42 AM - Updated Mon Jan 28, 2013 12:42 AM

THE FACTS: Brandon Knight's career-high 31 points included back-to-back 3-pointers late in the fourth quarter of the Detroit Pistons' 104-102 victory over the Orlando Magic.

The Pistons beat Orlando for the second time in six days in spite of the Magic's J.J. Redick and E'Twaun Moore tying their career scoring highs with 31 and 18 points, respectively.

Redick tied a Magic franchise record with five 3-pointers in the first quarter, but the Pistons still led 19-18 when Redick sat down with 4:21 left in the quarter.

The Magic were down 104-100 with 6.7 seconds left when Detroit's Will Bynum fouled Jameer Nelson on a 3-point shot. After making the first two free throws, he missed the third shot and the Magic had four attempts to tie the game on tips before the clock ran out.

Greg Monroe had 17 points and seven rebounds for the Pistons, and Charlie Villanueva came off the bench with 12 points and five rebounds.

Bynum had seven of his season-high 12 assists in the fourth quarter.

QUOTABLE: "For the most part, Brandon was our savior tonight and Will was our savior at the start of the fourth."

-- Pistons forward Tayshaun Prince

THE STAT: In spite of Redick's 5-for-5 shooting from behind the arc in the first quarter and the Pistons making only 4-for-11 in the first half, Detroit finished with better 3-point shooting (11-for-23) than Orlando (10-for-23).

TURNING POINT: The Magic had erased a 13-point lead and led 98-95 with less than three minutes left. Villanueva missed a shot, but Prince got the rebound and set up Knight for another shot, which also missed. Monroe rebounded that shot and got it to Knight, who nailed a game-tying 3-pointer. Twelve seconds later, Knight nailed another 3-pointer and the Pistons were ahead to stay.

HOT: Knight need only 16 shots to reach his career high of 31 points. He made 12, including 5-of-8 from 3-point range.

NOT: Glen Davis shot 8-for-22 with five turnovers and also picked up a technical foul for the fourth straight game.

QUOTABLE II: "It's been messing up the flow of the game. I've got to grow up. And also it's costing me money."

-- Davis on his technical foul

GOOD MOVE: The Pistons loaded the floor with Monroe (6-foot-11), Villanueva (6-11), Prince (6-9) and Austin Daye (6-11) late in the first half against a Magic lineup that included Redick (6-4), Moore (6-4), Nelson (6-0) and Arron Afflalo (6-5), presenting impossible matchups for the Magic.

BAD MOVE: With the Pistons up by four and trying to end the game, Bynum fouled Nelson on a long, desperation 3-pointer with 6.7 seconds left.

FANTASY SPOTLIGHT: The Magic are 0-3 since putting Redick in the starting lineup, but perhaps for the first time in his seven NBA seasons, he looked like the Duke edition of J.J. Redick.

QUOTABLE III: "I assume that (Vaughn) has a plan with the rotation, and I didn't feel like I had cooled off or anything. If anything, I think I became less aggressive as the game wore on in terms of hunting my shot, and that's one thing I would change."

-- Redick, on being the first Magic starter taken out of the game with 4:21 left in the first quarter, having scored 16 points.

ROOKIE WATCH: The Pistons got some offensive production from Kim English and Kyle Singler, who were both assigned defensively to Redick. ... The Magic's Maurice Harkless had a dunk and five rebounds in 13 minutes.

NOTABLE: Since Dec. 19, the Pistons are 10-6, the Magic are 2-16. ... The Magic had a 50-37 rebound advantage. ... There were 20 lead changes, 10 in the fourth quarter. ... Afflalo, who had another bad game against Detroit, didn't play in the fourth quarter because of "a slight left calf strain," according to Vaughn.

UP NEXT: For the Pistons: Tuesday vs. Milwaukee, Wednesday @ Indiana, Friday vs. Cleveland. For the Magic: Monday @ Brooklyn, Wednesday @ New York, Friday @ Boston.

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

• Pistons: --
• Magic: Davis

• Lead Changes: 20
• Times Tied: 12

• Arena: Amway Center, Orlando, FL
• Officials: #41 Ken Mauer, #30 John Goble, #44 Eli Roe
• Attendance: 17959
• Duration: 2:16