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Recap: AUBURN HILLS, Mich. (AP) -- Ben Gordon scored 23 points and Rodney Stuckey added 20 as the short-handed Detroit Pistons beat Orlando 85-80 on Tuesday night, handing the Magic their first loss of the season.
Detroit guard Tayshaun Prince saw his streak of 496 straight games played end as he was sidelined with a back injury. Prince last missed a game on April 13, 2003 - during his rookie season - against Memphis.
Prince will be sidelined for at least three games before his status is re-evaluated this weekend. Richard Hamilton (ankle) also sat out.
The Pistons also got 20 from third guard Will Bynum, while Vince Carter led Orlando with 15. Dwight Howard had just eight points and five rebounds in 17 minutes before fouling out.
Preview: STATS -- The Detroit Pistons extended their dominance of the Orlando Magic in 2008-09, but it would be difficult to argue they were the better team.
After the first three games of the new season, the Magic once again appear to be one of the conference's elite, while the Pistons are struggling.
Orlando looks to extend its undefeated start Tuesday - possibly with Vince Carter back in the lineup - when it visits Detroit, which knows it will be without Richard Hamilton.
The Pistons (1-2) have won 19 of the last 24 meetings against the Magic (3-0), including all three last season. However, after ending Orlando's playoff runs in 2003, 2007 and 2008, Detroit was left watching the Eastern Conference finals from home while Orlando was defeating Cleveland en route to facing the Lakers in the NBA finals.
The Magic averaged 87.0 points in their three losses to the Pistons last season - 14 below their season average - but they've had little trouble scoring in the first three games of 2009-10, reaching 120 in two of those contests including a 125-116 victory over Toronto on Sunday.
Despite missing Carter (sprained left ankle), Mickael Pietrus (flulike symptoms) and Rashard Lewis (suspension), the Magic had plenty of contributors and were on fire from beyond the arc, connecting on a season-high 17 3-pointers.
J.J. Redick went 5 of 8 from 3-point range to finish with a career-high 27 points. Jameer Nelson scored a team-high 30 while Dwight Howard, named Eastern Conference player of the week on Monday, added 24 points and 11 rebounds.
"(The coaching staff) said, 'You've got to play your own game, you can't play Vince's game or anything else, but you've got to play your game at a very high level,'" coach Stan Van Gundy said. "Those guys did. Jameer, J.J., Dwight, Ryan (Anderson) and Matt (Barnes) were all outstanding."
Van Gundy said Carter could return Tuesday. He averaged 15.5 points in the first two games and will look to help the Magic get off to the best start in their history. Against a Detroit team missing its leading scorer from last season, they appear to have a good chance.
Hamilton, who will miss his third straight contest with a sprained left ankle, averaged 30.0 points in two games against Orlando last season.
Without Hamilton, whose 18.3 scoring average in 2008-09 led Detroit for the seventh year in a row, the Pistons have failed to break 90 points in consecutive losses. They led both games at the half but struggled in the third quarters, scoring 16 points in a 91-83 loss to Oklahoma City on Friday then managing only 14 in the third quarter of a 96-85 loss to Milwaukee on Saturday.
"We've got to play 48 minutes," first-year coach John Kuester said. "It's 24 minutes of the first half that the rhythm is good but that third period, we've got to come out with a certain amount of energy that we had when we left the court."
The Pistons also struggled in the third quarter of their only win, scoring 18 points after taking a 53-41 lead into the locker room against Memphis last Wednesday.
Despite their overall problems, the Pistons have to be pleased with the production of their biggest offseason signing. Ben Gordon scored a season-high 26 points Saturday, going 8 of 15 from the floor. The former Chicago guard is averaging 24.3 points through three games.
Game Notes: Nov. 3 @ Detroit: Orlando is 30-45 all-time vs. Detroit (20-17 at home, 10-28 on the road) during regular season action…The Magic lost all three meetings with the Pistons last season…Orlando is 7-12 vs. Detroit in the playoffs (2-0 at home, 1-0 on the road, 1996 first round; 2-1 at home, 1-3 on the road, 2003 first round; 0-2 at home, 0-2 on the road, 2007 first round; 1-1 at home, 0-3 on the road, 2008 Conference Semifinals)...Orlando has lost 19 of the last 24 regular season meetings with the Pistons overall...The Magic have lost nine of the last 13 matchups at home and dropped nine of the last 10 at Detroit…Assistant GM Dave Twardzik served as an assistant coach for the Pistons in 2000-01…Assistant Coach Brendan Malone served on the Pistons’ bench for seven seasons from 1988-95 and helped them capture back-to-back NBA Championships in 1989 and 1990. BEST ALL-TIME SCORING PERFORMANCE VS. PISTONS: 46 pts., Tracy McGrady (@ Orlando, 12-25-02); Shaquille O’Neal (@ Detroit, 2-16-93)
BEST ALL-TIME SCORING PERFORMANCE VS. MAGIC: 42 pts., Grant Hill (@ Orlando, 1-3-00)
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