Basketball Preview: Orlando Magic vs Detroit Pistons
Detroit Pistons, with a 6-13 record, may not be the best team going around the league this season, but they have always been a thorn in Orlando’s side.
Pistons have long been Orlando’s nemesis, eliminating them from the playoffs in 2003, 2007 and 2008 and have won 20 of the last 28 encounters against them prior to this season.
The two teams faced off against each other on Tuesday night for the first time this season and the story was no different as Magics struggled to play up their potential.
Dwight Howard and his team had to dig deep and it took a marathon effort down the stretch to edge past their dogged opponents.
After being bullied on the paint during most part of the match by Pistons, Stan Van Gundy, the Orlando Coach urged his team to step up the pace and bring more intensity in their first half play.
The players responded big time as Orlando overcame their woes, outsmarting Chicago Bulls 107-78 on Wednesday night. Magics built a 24-point halftime lead, out-rebounded their opponents 44-21, held a 27-10 advantage in second-chance points and outscored Bulls
46-26 in the paint with Jameer Nelson leading the way.
Post match, the striker reiterated his team’s desire to improve. "We just wanted to bring a lot of intensity," Jameer Nelson said. "We brought it from jump ball to the end."
Riding high on a six-match winning streak and coming off the back of one of their most brilliant performances in the season, Magics will enter the Palace of Auburn Hills with all the momentum, come Friday night.
"For a lot of reasons I thought this was our best game of the year," Van Gundy said after the match.
While the Orlando coach had a lot of reasons to be jubilant, Pistons' coach John Kuester was quite displeased with his team's performance in a 97-72 loss to Miami, Detroit's third straight defeat.
Pistons, contrary to their opponents, had a nightmare of a last game against Miami Heat. They looked totally flat on the court as they finished with season lows in points and field goal percentage (36.4) on Wednesday.
The extent of their struggle was epitomized in the third quarter where they only managed to score nine points, floundering 18 of the total 22 attempted shots.
"We couldn't generate any offense," Kuester said after the match. "There are going to be some adjustments going into the next game," He added. "There are going to be discussions on a number of areas."
Players to watch out:
Dwight Howard holds the key for Orlando Magic. The phenomenal guard, who was awarded the Eastern Player of the Week honour, leads his team with 21.3 points, 12.1 rebounds, 1.2 steals and 2.44 blocks per game. He will be the player to
keep an eye on for the Pistons. In the four contests last season, Howard scored at an average of 19.8 points.
With Howard providing a daunting prospect on the paint, Jameer Nelson and Vince Carter definitely pose a big threat to the Pistons' defence.
Rodney Stuckey and Tayshaun Prince will be crucial as ever for Detroit. The duo failed against Heat Wednesday night but there is another bright prospect, Greg Monroe. With the Detroit coach hinting at changes, one area that can witness
it is the number of playing minutes for the rookie.
Monroe came off the bench to lead Pistons with a career-best 15 points and eight rebounds against Heat, a night after he troubled Howard on the court.
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