Glen 'Big Baby' Davis shines in the absence of Dwight Howard with a double-double as the Orlando Magic crush the Detroit Pistons 119-89 ...
On Monday night at the Amway Center, Orlando, FL, the Orlando Magic hosted the Detroit Pistons without their big man Dwight ‘Superman’ Howard. His absence however did little to put off the Magic spirits as they tyrannized the Pistons
119-89, blowing out the visitors by a 30 point margin.
Magic relied heavily on their three point shooting as they made 15 off 28 three pointers on the night while also shooting the ball 52.5% from the field. Jason Richardson had a game-high 22 points for Orlando which included 6 triples.
Glen ‘Big baby’ Davis who had much more responsibility on his shoulders in the absence of Howard provided the spark early by getting 12 of his 16 points in the first half. He also grabbed 16 rebounds on the night making this his
2nd double-double performance in as many games. Ryan Anderson who was coming back from injury contributed 14 points. J.J. Redick and Jameer Nelson scored 20 and 18 points respectively. It seemed as though the Magic players accepted much more responsibility
in the absence of their All-Star centre, who was out with back spasms, as all five starters for the night, managed to score in double-figures.
Tayshaun Prince led the scoring for Pistons with 21 points but he was not helped by his fellow starters as none of them managed to score more than 9 points. Ben Gordon came off the bench scored 11 points and Charlie Villanueva
was the only other player scoring in double figures for the Pistons with 10.
Orlando out-rebounded the Pistons 44-33 and also made them pay in transition as they scored 22 fast break points as compared to only 8 from the visitors. The key to winning this matchup for the Magic was the ball handling as they
only had two turnovers in the first half, they did had 11 more in the second half but with the lead so ample, the Magic could afford those silly mistakes.
The game only remained a contest in the first quarter as Prince scored 13 of his 21 in the opening period. Pistons led 12-10 with 7:49 remaining in the first. From that point on, for the next 14 minutes, it was all one-way traffic
as the Magic outscored the visitors 42-18. The hosts had gotten their noses in front in this one by a long margin at the half way stage, Magic led 64-43.
The Magic dominance continued in the second half, with their lead growing to 30 points with 6:54 remaining in the third quarter.
The lead got to as big as 33 points at one stage of the game. Pistons, who never really bothered the Magic except in the first quarter, were given a schooling lesson by the hands of Orlando in every aspect of the game.
Tags: