The Pistons won at Amway Arena, 97-93, in a game that came down to which team would make the last scoring run.

“This game today was a game we had never been in, trying to sweep a team,” said Chauncey Billups, who had a game-high 25 points. “I think we underestimated how tough it was going to be, especially for us to get off to a good start. They just didn’t fold, they just never went away and you have to tip your hat to that team and them having a lot of pride.”

The Pistons were ahead nine early in the fourth quarter when the Magic went on a 16-2 run that put Orlando ahead, 85-80, with three minutes left. The Pistons responded with a 13-3 run in which four different scorers went 5-for-5 from the field.

Rasheed Wallace hit a 3-pointer coming out of a timeout, Chris Webber’s bucket made it a one-point game and Rip Hamilton knocked down the go-ahead score. Baskets by Billups, who shot 50 percent from the field and made all 10 free throw attempts, and Hamilton (19 points) put Detroit in control of their eighth and final win over Orlando in 2006-07.

The Magic made their surprising push when their season looked all but over. Dwight Howard was the most assertive offensively he’s been all series, finally looking like the player who averaged more than 20 points per game against the Pistons in the regular season. After scoring 32 points in the first three games combined, Howard had 29 on 10-of-15 shooting and 17 rebounds in Game 4. He scored 11 points in the first quarter to help Orlando take a 25-22 lead.

“We knew it wasn’t going to come easy. Dwight carried his team tonight,” Tayshaun Prince told George Blaha and Greg Kelser after the game. “He was aggressive in the paint and it was a tough task for our big men. They’ve been doing a great job on him all series long, so we knew it was going to be time for Dwight Howard to be the real Dwight Howard and he stepped up big time.”

The Pistons entered the game threatening the NBA record for fewest turnovers in a four-game series, but the Pistons were out of rhythm from late in the first and into the second quarter, committing eight turnovers in the first 14 minutes. They finished with 16 team turnovers.

“We had some uncharacteristic turnovers, and I think the close-out game is always tough for both teams,” Pistons head coach Flip Saunders said. “It’s tough for the team that is maybe going to get closed out and it’s tough for the team that’s trying to close out because you want it to happen and sometimes you get a little too anxious and try to make too many great plays instead of making easy plays. At times I think we did that a little bit. But we settled down a bit.”

The bench did not produce much in Game 3, but proved its value in Game 4. Carlos Delfino (eight points, 3-of-3 FGs) and Flip Murray (four points, four steals) sparked the Pistons in the second quarter with a 16-2 run after they had fallen behind 10.

“The bench, Carlos was big, Flip was big getting steals and getting in passing lanes and things like that,” Hamilton told TNT at halftime. “They were the key for us in the second quarter.”

For the second straight game, a Pistons’ buzzer-beater before the break dampened Orlando’s feel-good first half. Grant Hill made a free throw with 3.2 seconds left but Hamilton raced down the court and scooped a layup to make it 47-46 Detroit at halftime.

Hill rebounded from a 2-of-11 performance in Game 3. He was 7-of-8 for 17 points.

In the third quarter, a Webber-led fast break led to a 3-point play by Tayshaun Prince for his first points of the game. Prince then scored the Pistons last 10 points of the quarter as Detroit took a 73-67 lead.

“Rip and Chauncey had it going early,” said Prince, Detroit’s catalyst in the Game 3 win. “Flip sat me down in a little while in the second quarter knowing I played 43 minutes the last game and once I got my chance in the third quarter I just ran the court a little bit, got some easy buckets, got to the fee throw line and I was able to attack.”

At first glance of the playoff pairings, it was widely expected for Detroit to finish off Orlando quickly and leave them waiting for the banged-up survivor of the Chicago-Bulls-Miami Heat series. But Chicago’s win Friday at Miami puts the Heat in the precarious position of becoming the first defending NBA champion to be swept in the first round the following year.

Game 4 of that series is Sunday, meaning the Pistons could know their next opponent in the next 24 hours – and not get to play them until next Saturday.

“As I told someone, we will have more time off in this series than when we played our first exhibition game and started training camp,” Saunders said. “I think we had four days practice and then we played, so I guess the biggest thing is staying sharp. We will probably have to do some scrimmaging over the course of the week to make sure we keep our legs and keep our sharpness.”

“Whoever it’s going to be,” Billups said. “It’s going to be a battle.”