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Magic Know Pistons Will Play With Desperation

Josh Cohen
Digital News Manager

By John Denton
March 24, 2017

ORLANDO – When the NBA schedule-makers arranged to have the Orlando Magic and the Detroit Pistons play on a Friday night in late March, they undoubtedly expected the game to carry Eastern Conference seeding implications for the upcoming playoffs.

However, both the Magic (26-46) and the Pistons (34-38) could find themselves on the outside looking in when the postseason begins in three weeks because of some wildly erratic play all season.

The Magic were supposed to contend for an Eastern Conference playoff berth for the first time since 2012 after hiring head coach Frank Vogel and revamping the roster with several veteran offseason additions. Meanwhile, Detroit reached the playoffs last season and appeared ready to make a major leap this season behind the promising core of Andre Drummond, Reggie Jackson, Tobias Harris, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Marcus Morris and Stanley Johnson.

However, neither of those scenarios have held up to this point for the Magic or Pistons, who face off tonight at 7 at the Amway Center.

``They’re going to play with desperation,’’ Magic coach Vogel predicted. ``They’re one game back of the eighth seed. They have a lot to play for and a lot on the line. They haven’t played well of late and any time your group hasn’t played well you’re diving into what’s wrong with your team and trying to rectify it. We’re going to expect their best effort and we’re going to beat them anyway.’’

Aaron Gordon (sore left hip) has been cleared to play tonight, while Jeff Green (low back spasms) is a game-time decision. If he can’t play, it could free up more minutes for second-year forward Mario Hezonja, who had eight points and a season-best seven rebounds on Wednesday.

While still mathematically alive in the playoff chase, Orlando is an extreme longshot to play in the postseason. Instead, the Magic are hoping to use the final 10 games to build what Vogel refers to as ``winning habits’’ that will help the team going forward.

Orlando saw its modest two-game winning streak – its first in 12 weeks – end on Wednesday as it lost the lead late in a 109-102 faltering against the Charlotte Hornets. The Magic poured lots of intensity and execution into the game, hoping to beat the Hornets for the first time this season. However, when it didn’t happen, the bitter result hit the team hard. That, Vogel insisted, was a good sign.

``I felt like it hurt our guys to lose that game for a fourth time to that team,’’ Vogel said. ``At times, it felt like our team was only half-way competing (earlier in the season against Charlotte), but (on Wednesday) I thought we were totally engaged, really competing and caring about getting that `W.’ The fact that it hurt our guys, that’s a good thing.’’

The Pistons were hurt by Wednesday’s 117-95 blowout loss to the Chicago Bulls, dropping them a game behind the Miami Heat for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. Afterward, Pistons coach Stan Van Gundy – Orlando’s former coach from 2007-12 – sounded like he was at a loss for how to get his squad to snap out of its latest funk.

``We were 33-33, got tied (for the eight spot), back to .500 after that New York game (on March 11), ran into a buzz saw in Cleveland and that’s it. We haven’t bounced back,’’ Van Gundy told reporters in Chicago on Wednesday. ``It’s like we took that one hit and have not recovered at all. Have not played a decent game since then. This is six bad games in a row.’’

Detroit has six players averaging double figures, led by Harris, who played for the Magic from 2013-16. Harris is averaging 16.3 points per game despite being shuffled between the starters (45 starters) and the reserves (27 games off the bench).

Harris averaged 15.5 points per game over parts of four seasons with Orlando, but the Magic dealt him to the Pistons last February for Ersan Ilyasova and Brandon Jennings. The Magic didn’t re-sign Jennings and dealt Ilyasova, using the cap space gained to sign the likes of Bismack Biyombo, D.J. Augustin and Green in a busy summer.
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