Orlando Magic entered the Palace of Auburn Hills for their second face off against the Detroit Pistons this season. Squeezing past them in the first, things did not bode well on Friday night as star center Dwight Howard and Jameer
Nelson, J.J. Redick and Mickael Pietrus all contracted a stomach virus before the match.
In Howard’s absence, Orlando had a tough time handling the Detroit offense, filling the void with a barrage of pinpoint shooting. The Magics troubled the Pistons from both inside and outside the perimeter as they romped to their
sixth consecutive victory of the season in style by thrashing the Detroit Pistons 104-91.
Turn up the Bass
Brendon Bass finally got an opportunity to show his mettle and he made it count, nailing his first 11 shots from the field. He finally missed one late in the fourth quarter but even that was so agonizingly close that Marcin Gortat
nearly committed offensive goaltending when he tipped the ball in for Orlando.
First Quarter
Vince Carter scored the first nine points for Orlando as the match began with both teams maintaining parity. The first quarter generally hung in the balance, but with the scores poised at 17, the Pistons had a 7-2 streak as they
tried to pull away. The Magics rallied back though and a Gortat jumper, making it 26-24 going into the second period.
Second Quarter
The lead changed hands eleven times and the scores were tied five times as both the teams kept clawing at each other in the second quarter, neither willing to bow down. Brendon Bass led the charge for the Magics as he scored 20
points in the first half while Vince Carter had 18. Tayshaun Prince was in the groove for the Pistons as he scored 14 points, guiding them to a single point advantage at the midway mark.
Third Quarter
The Detroit Pistons have struggled all season in the third quarter and the story was not any different on Friday night as they struggled to cope up with the pace of the Orlando offense.
Quentin Richardson nailed in a three pointer four minutes into the second half as the Magics sprinted to a 9-0 run to bust open a ten point lead at 70-60. Tayshaun Prince brought the Pistons back bombarding six consecutive points
as both teams started a spate of unanswered runs. Richardson had four but Charlie Villanueva responded with seven as Detroit slashed the deficit to a single point.
Fourth Quarter
Orlando ended the third quarter on a high though as they made two consecutive buckets to surge ahead at 78-73 and carried their momentum going into the final period. A 3-pointer ripped in by Richardson early in the fourth made
it 81-73, and a fast-break layup by Vince Carter put the Magics ahead by 97-84. Orlando outscored the Pistons 26-18 in the last twelve minutes to take the match at 104-91.
Match Stats
Brendon Bass led the way with 27 points and Vince Carter finished with 25, nearly missing a double-double with 9 assists as the Magics shot at nearly 60 percent.
For the Pistons, Tayshaun Prince scored a match high 30 points while Charlie Villanueva came off the bench to score 15. The Pistons despite Howard’s absence had only three offensive rebounds and also got bullied 50-28 in the paint
as they lost their fourth in a row.
Tags: